Forming Alliance
by Dejmal
Summary: Buffy and her friends find a Stargate in one of the warehouses that belonged to the Watchers Council. More
1. Prologue

BtVS/Stargate Crossover 

Disclaimer:No.Don't own Buffy,don't own Stargate, don't even own the house I live in. Happy now? 

Rating:PG-13 for now 

Summary:Buffy and her friends find a Stargate in one of the warehouses that belonged to the Watchers Council. This story is more or less a post Chosen struggle against the Goa'uld. The plot is quite complicated so I'm not going to reveal more then the fact that Buffy and SGC aren't on the same planet, slayers have their own stargate and the reason why there are two Earths is a major part of the plot. That's why Buffy's planet is always called Earth, while stargate world is mostly called Tauri in the story. The whole idea of this was to create something different so some chapters may seem a little strange (actually they are very strange :-) because I experiment a lot during writing the story, but if you want to read something new, here it is. 

Pairings:Post Chosen fic so Willow/Kennedy, Dawn pairing later. 

Timeline:Set after season 7 for Buffy, but season 7 of Buffy happened at the same time as season 2 of Stargate. I'm going to use BtVS timeline so for example May 2004 means the end of season 3 of Stargate.I hope it will not be too confusing. 

Spoilers:Sooner or later I'm going to explain Buffy's history to the members of SGC so pretty much all seasons for Buffy and mostly season 4 and later for Stargate.Daniel will not die in the end season 5 so probably no Jonas and Jack's clone will appear sooner than beginning of season 7. 

Forming Alliance-prologue

**January 2005, Colorado Springs, SGC, Tauri**

It was one of the afternoons in Stargate Command that Colonel Jack O'Neill found incredibly boring. Teal'c was meditating, Daniel was buried -almost literally- in ancient tombs and Carter ... well he would love to spend some time with his blonde second in command in case she would talk about anything which wasn't technology - no chance about that. He really didn't understand why General Hammond didn't agree with his idea to build a fishing pond in one of the large empty storage rooms. His mind drifted back to Samantha Carter. She said she was going to find a way to spare electricity in her house, which probably meant she was building a new naquadah generator. To disturb her would be a Kiss of Death. Or worse, she could try to explain to him how it works. He better start writing the mission reports before the General calls him. 

Suddenly the phone on his desk started ringing. "O'Neill" Jack reacted, happy he was disturbed from finishing the lengthy reports. 

"Jack I need you to come here." Hammond's replied, his voice full of worries. 

"On my way" Jack stood up quickly and headed to Hammond's office, wondering what was this about. He hoped it had nothing to do with the replicators or these mysterious black warriors or the Tok'ra, especially Annise. She only came there when she ran out of lab-rats, not risking to use one of their precious Tok'ra. He entered the office to find all members of his team already there and discussing something with Hammond. 

"So what's going on?" Jack asked, noticing the serious expressions on the faces of his team. Something was definitely wrong and writing mission reports suddenly didn't sound so bad at all. 

"The alpha site didn't send their everyday report." Carter informed him. 

"Well it's 1500, they are just three hours behind the schedule." Jack shrugged. Was that the reason Hammond alarmed half of the base? SGC could definitely overcome the fact of someone forgetting to set his watch. "It's not like this is the first time they've been late." 

"Actually it is Sir.", Carter didn't miss the oportunity to correct him. 

"OK. Why don't we ask them?" Jack suggested leisurely. 

"That's exactly what we are going to do Colonel." Hammond replied, ready to order his crew to contact the Alpha site when a Lieutenant interrupted him. "Unauthorized offworld activation! Closing the Iris!" 

Hammond and SG-1 immediately stopped the discussion and rushed to the control room. "Any IDC?" Jack inquired. 

"No Sir.", the Lieutenant shook his head. "We are receiving a message, audio only. It's the alpha site." 

"Play it" Hammond ordered, tossing the various possibilities about the Alpha site's situation in his mind. No Goa'uld knew the location of their second base and he couldn't imagine a Tok'ra would betray them. 

"We are under attack. I have no idea who they are, but they have already taken over most of the base. Requesting backup. I have to..." 

"That's all there is Sir.", the Lieutenant informed the General. "The transmission was cut off." 

"General. SG-1 is ready for the rescue mission." Jack offered his help. If the Alpha site was attacked he definitely wouldn't just sit and wait.

"We should send a MALP first." Carter suggested. "Whoever attacked the Alpha Site might be already waiting for us."

"Agreed. Get SG-12 and SG-7 to help you and prepare the MALP. Alert all security in the base." Hammond ordered.

Five minutes later were the three SG teams ready in front of the gate and waiting for it's activation when a sound echoed through the gateroom. "Unauthorized offworld activation! Closing the Iris!" 

"Damn!" Jack swore. The Goa'uld could really pick the right time. If they kept it up then the alpha site would have to wait another 23 minutes before SGC would be able to come to their aid. The wormhole activated behind the Iris and in the first moments nothing seemed to happen. Suddenly a crack appeared on the metal plates and started spreading. In a matter of seconds the Iris blew out, pieces of titanium flying in all directions. 

'Shit.', Jack thought, holding his P-90 steady. He never got a chance to shoot though because of several Goa'uld grenades that came flying from the event horizon, sending everyone in the room to dreamland. Only Teal'c was fast enough to get away from the effective range of the grenades and was now facing the gate, his staff weapon ready. He fired as soon as the first figure stepped out of the wormhole, but the blast just hit a blue energy shield around his enemy. The person or whatever it was, was dressed completely in black. Black combat boots, pants, jacket and face-guard so Teal'c had no idea what if the adversary was even human. The person was far smaller then he was - about 165 centimeters and was armed with a zat gun. On it's back it had another weapon which looked a little like a shorter version of his own staff. But he really didn't have the time to analyze it. He shot again with the same result as the first time while another figure came from the gate and immediately fired at him. Teal'c tried to avoid the shot, but his way was blocked by other soldiers running to the gateroom. The blast hit his back and Teal'c fell to the floor unconscious. More and more black dressed figures thronged out of the event horizon and more soldiers were being knocked out by their zats or often just by a single blow of their fists. The one who came through the gate first reached the nearest computer console and sank it's fingers into it. Meanwhile the fights spread to other parts of the stargate command and shooting started to be heard near the control room. Hammond realized that they will be defeated and wanted to enter the self-destruction code when all screens went black. 

"Hi General Hammond." suddenly appeared on all screens. 

"Who the hell are you?" Hammond mumbled in confusion. 

"Someone you shouldn't have pissed off." a female voice chimed behind him. After that he heard the typical sound of a zat and then everything went black... 

End Prologue. 

Review please. 

Author's note:This fic is the longest thing I've ever written in English so you'll probably find grammatical mistakes in it. Please be patient with me try to ignore it. 


	2. After the battle

Timeline:Set after season 7 for Buffy, but season 7 of Buffy happened at the same time as season 2 of Stargate. I'm going to use BtVS timeline so for example May 2004 means the end of season 3 of Stargate.I hope it will not be too confusing.

Rating PG-13. 

Chapter 1-After the battle

**California, Earth, May 2003**

The sun was slowly reaching the horizon when the bus with survivors of the battle with the First was still about 10 miles from L.A. Most were sleeping except three of them - Giles behind the steering wheel, Buffy who was too busy with her thoughts to sleep and Faith, well she simply decided she doesn't want to sleep yet, so she didn't. Faith was actually thinking about her future as well, but she wouldn't admit it.

Buffy's POV

What are we going to do now ? That's what Dawn asked me and I wish I could just say "We saved the world I say we party" but I know that won't happen. No moving on. No normal life for Buffy. Color me responsible. I have more work to do then ever. Finding the new slayers, rebuilding the Council or better to say creating a new Council. I will not allow the slayers to fight the same way as I did. They deserve something better - no fighting alone, payment and the most important thing: a chance to leave if they want to. I won't force anyone to fight this war. That would only lead to a fast death and I've already lost more then I can stand. I don't know what I would do if something happened to Dawn though I can't stop her from fighting, I know that now. She is way too stubborn to stop just because I want her to. I guess that proves she was made from me. I better prepare her for whatever she might face. It could be worse. It's not like she's dating a 240 year old vampire who will lose his soul as soon as she jumps his bones. At least I hope she doesn't. If I found out anything like that, the guy would think Silence of the Lambs was a happy fairy tale when I was finished with him. And the others? Xander and Willow ? Will they move on now when they have the chance? Part of me wishes they will, the other part feels lost without her best friends. I guess the second part of me should be happy then, because they won't go away. They could have left a long time ago, but they chose to fight and they won't stop. I just hope I won't suck at being a leader as I did the last time. I screwed up and almost got all of them killed. Argh! I really should stop this emotional crap before I get all 'Poor Buffy' about my incapability. Lets think about what has to be done. First we have to get this thing organized and ... What was that? Did anyone else feel it?"

"Faith did you feel it?" Buffy looked around curiously."Like something changed."

"Kennedy stopped snoring?" Faith smirked, watching one of the new slayers. "I have no idea how every one managed to doze off with that trombone concert. I mean my roommate in jail wasn't exactly quiet, but this is beyond human snoring. I'll have to ask Red if becoming a slayer makes you snore louder."

"I didn't mean that. I feel like I just realized something."

"That Giles can't drive a bus? Cause I knew that the minute he sat behind the steering wheel.".

"I'm talking something supernatural here Faith.", Buffy mused, an expression of caution spreading over her face. Something was wrong, but she couldn't put a finger on what it was. Perhaps just an after-batlle trauma? She needed a long holiday. They all did and they deserved some rest. Buffy hoped the trip to LA won't take long, because Robin could use a doctor to take care of the cut on his chest. The slayers would heal before they reach Angel's hotel, which will spare Buffy the necessity to explain five girls covered with bleeding wounds to the doctors. The slayers had other needs though. Buffy closed her eyes, imagining herself taking a hot bath. No electricity in Sunnydale for the last three days meant no shower, flush toilets or warm food.

"Sorry B. Didn't feel a thing.", Faith leaned back in her seat, trying to fall relax. "You don't plan to freak out, do you?"

"It's OK. It's probably just me." Buffy sighed. "That I can't figure out myself."

"I know how it's like." Faith nodded with a serious expression.

"Really?"

"Hell Yeah!" Faith grinned mischievously." We all have times when we can't figure YOU out."

"Did I tell you how glad I am that you're here?" Buffy pretended to be angry, but in fact she was glad Faith made her snap out of the depressed mood. She could use some fun after the last weeks filled with almost nothing else but fighting the First's servants. Of course Giles wasn't enthused by Buffy's idea their first stop should be Disneyland. He planned to take them to England to one of the manors that belonged to the Watchers Council and Buffy was sure he already had a precise vision of a perfectly functioning organization in his mind. Willow mentioned she sensed about four hundred slayers all over the world and combined with the witches from the Coven ... Buffy made a mental note to force Giles watch the X-men to get an idea what's coming.

"Figured." Faith once again interrupted Buffy's brooding. "Look B I'm not going anywhere and I'm planning to save your sorry ass so many times that you'll start to feel guilty and you'll forgive me my past."

"You don't get it do you?"

"Not as often as I used to before we met." Faith responded without hesitation.

"Faith!! Could you please forget your Hungry and Horny Philosophy and listen to me?" Buffy rolled her eyes. "I meant I already forgave you. Also you should realize one thing.", she grinned. "The two of us will be the role models for all new slayers. It's all planned."

'Someone should tell B that life can not be planned, not completely.', Faith thought, looking at the road ahead in silence. 'Sometimes things just happen. I believed she has already figured that out considering her own life. Well, I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do, but I definitely won't be like Mr. Broody in LA. The time in prison changed me. True. But I haven't changed the way everybody hoped. I still could kill a human if necessary. Some humans are as bad as the demons we face. I knew that long before I went psycho and my time in prison surely didn't change this opinion. The two of us as role models? We better keep the amount of newbies who show the same behavior at minimum or this new Slayers&Watchers Council won't survive a month.'

**Westburry, England**

"Here you go. All done." Willow stated, sitting by her computer. It's been three weeks after the Sunnydale was destroyed. They spent only few days in LA and soon moved to Westburry in England where the Council's Manor was situated. The location was practical, because it took only one hour to drive to the Coven and was remote enough to build there a training center without drawing too much attention. Also the house belonged to Quentin Travers and Giles knew the access codes to Council's accounts were hidden in a safe inside the library so the first thing Buffy and Willow did after they moved in was to rob the good old Quentin.

"Anything interesting or just the usual boring stuff?" Buffy replied, not expecting anything except factory making tweed. The Council's belongings didn't really interest her. "I still can't believe how easy it was to transfer all that belonged to the Council to our account. Well what do I own?" Buffy asked, but reconsidered the question when she saw the looks the other gave her."What do WE own?"

There are mostly libraries, warehouses and transport companies."Dawn went through the list. "They used them to get whatever they needed wherever they needed it without questions. A lot of cars, several fishing boats and even five helicopters. Can't wait to fly one."

"Over my dead body." Buffy tried to reduce her enthusiasm.

"Do I really have to wait another two years?" Dawn replied with a grin. "Or you are not keeping that tradition?"

" I think I'll skip it just this time." Buffy announced."What else is there?"

"Pieces of land all over the world, several shops and a Zoo."

"A Zoo? That is so cool. We can train the monkeys to fly the helicopters and drop nuclear bombs like in Project X. Or we can try to mutate the crocodiles or... " Andrew stopped making his creative ideas when Faith smacked him over his head. "One mutated crocodile and you're his first meal. Got it?"

"I still don't get why would the Council own a Zoo?" Buffy wondered, curious why would someone like Quentin Travers need an animal, except maybe for using a polecat instead of a self-portrait.

"That's quite simple." Giles responded."When they needed to transfer a demon they said it was some kind of animal for the Zoo and they didn't have any problems.We should go to find out what exactly is in the warehouse.The list was destroyed when the Council's headquarters blew up. From what I've heard the artifacts stored there are very powerful."

The gang got out of the manor house into the afternoon sun. Usually the weather was cloudy but today was an exception. Buffy could easily see around the whole 20 square miles of land that belonged to the manor, consisting mostly of woods and parks. There was also a heliport in front of the house, a small lake on the south side, connected with a creek that kept the water fresh, with several boats chained up to the shore. The main residence was pretty much in the middle of the manor. It had two wings in a shape of a horseshoe, three floors and could easily accommodate over several hundred people, which was another reason why Buffy and the others chose it as a new training center for slayers and watchers. Xander was already putting together a crew that would construct another building, they could use as a gym. The warehouse they were now heading to was at the north side, more than a mile away from the house. Since the weather was nice they decided to walk instead of taking the car and enjoy the clear sky. From outside the warehouse looked like a low brick building with just one floor but that changed as soon as they came inside. The gang stared at the huge space that was inside. It was about 150 meters wide and 100 meters long however that wasn't what surprised them - the height of the warehouse was at least 30 meters and it was filled with piles of books, various weapons from ancient swords to rocket launchers, excavations ,religious items and magical artifacts and weapons. Willow was in awe, feeling all the power coming from them.

"Giles. Some of these ..."

"Are not even from this dimension. I know." Giles finished for her." They have been gathered over the centuries. Everything useful that had been collected during the fights against demons was brought here. In the past the Council had a lot of wizards working for them and they were able to travel between dimensions, bringing quite interesting objects."

"Someone could think I needed these weapons when I was fighting Glory, but NO they were simply sitting on their asses, drinking tea and discussing the cricket league ." Buffy was getting angry. The Council had an arsenal that could wipe out half Europe, but of course why would they share? Just another dead slayer, right?

"We don't know if anything here would be effective against Glory."Giles tried to calm her down without success. "But you are right. They could at least try."

"Let's get this over with." Buffy broke the argument off, walking down the stairs and headed to the nearest pile."Giles you'll sort the books. Me, Faith, and Vi will take a look at the weapons. Willow, Kennedy - the magical items. Xander, Dawn ,Andrew will go through the other-dimension stuff."

Everybody spread to their destination, Xander's group walking to the opposite side of the warehouse. Andrew couldn't resist and started picking up objects along the way, wondering about their function. Most of those proved harmless but when he took 'The Eye of Rag-nul' in his hand, his right arm suddenly started turning green and reshaping itself into a large claw. With a shriek he threw the eye away, his arm turning back to normal. After this experience he decided the best place for his hands were his pockets and carefully followed Dawn and Xander, who didn't notice what happened to him. After about two minutes the three of them came to the other end of the warehouse, observing the objects stored there.

"WOW. That's a big circle." Dawn stated, looking at the large metal ring in front of her. "Can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a circle that big."

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	3. Discoveries

Rating:PG-13 for now

Chapter 2 - Discoveries

"WOW. That's a big circle." Dawn stated. "Can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a circle that big."

Dawn studied the metal ring with interest. It seemed to be composed from two parts. The inner circle had about thirty various symbols on it, which didn't resemble any language she knew. There were no symbols on the outer circle but eight similar triangular objects and she had no idea what function they could have. The label next to the whole artifact read 'Chappa-Ai, The watergate to the unknown.' There was also a smaller object next to the circle with the same symbols on it and labeled 'Control panel'.

Dawn walked towards the ring, running her fingers down the grey surface, touching the shaped symbols on the cold metal. She felt strangely drawn to it like she had something in common with the unknown object. "The future is written in the starts.", Dawn whispered, ruminating about how she got this idea. Before she had a chance to analyze her connection to the artifact, a hand on her shoulder cut off her thoughts. Dawn turned around, reacting on instinct and pushed the person behind her in his chest. It was too late when she realized it was just Xander and the force behind the push was so big he fell to the ground.

"Xander!" Dawn run to her friend, helping him to stand up. "I'm so sorry. I guess I'm still a little edgy after the battle with the First."

"I'm fine." Xander regained his footing, watching Dawn curiously. "When exactly did you get so strong? You don't happen to be one of the new activated slayers, do you ?"

Andrew heard Xander's question and switched on his recorder. "Dawn The Vampire Slayer. That sounds so cool. Like the real sunrise, Dawn brings death to the undead. Just speaking her name causes the demons to flee in terror. The Destroyer of everything inhuman in this world. The Protector of the week. The Light that defeats the Darkness. The Example of all that is good. The leader of.."

"SHUT UP!!!" both Dawn and Xander reacted in unison.

"I'm serious Dawn. You are stronger than you should be." Xander looked worried. "Perhaps Willow should run some tests to find out what's wrong.", he suggested.

----

"So what's wrong with me?" Dawn nervously questioned Willow. After they determined that she wasn't a new slayer and that Willow didn't feel anything magical in her ,except the key, which was as dormant as before, Willow ran several tests on her, testing her physical shape and Dawn was eager to find out the results. 

"There is nothing wrong with you."

"Really? I want that statement documentary, cause Buffy'll never believe that I'm actually normal."

"You are not normal." Willow declared, studying the results of Dawn's tests.

"Gee.Thanks. That's incredibly improving my self-confidence." Dawn was getting more and more nervous. Where was Willow going with this?

"I said there is nothing wrong with you and I mean it. There is NOTHING wrong with you. I ran all available tests and your body is simply without flaws and I think I know the reason. When Buffy became the slayer her body and genetical structure had changed. Apart from receiving supernatural abilities, everything that could represent a problem for her as the slayer had been removed. All natural flaws her body had had vanished. The monks that created you used Buffy's DNA. That's why your body doesn't have any flaws either."

"So I'm a supergirl?" Dawn remarked, her voice a mix of sarcasm and enthusiasm.

"Sorry, but no you're not. You don't have any abilities a human couldn't have. But you have the maximum that is possible for a human. Your sight, hearing, reaction times and everything else." Willow explained.

"So I could go and win all the Olympic disciplines? That doesn't sound bad at all."Dawn started to be exited.

"Sure if you train 10 years twelve hours a day for it." Willow grinned mischievously.

"What? Didn't you say I have all possible human abilities?" Dawn frowned.

"No. I said your body doesn't have any flaws. That means you have the potential to become a world champion in any category you choose. It doesn't mean you don't have to train for it." Willow smirked. "Sorry. You're not Wonder woman."

"Oh. Well I guess I'll stick to becoming a watcher then." Dawn shrugged. "There is another problem though." Dawn remembered the ring in the warehouse. "The Chappa-Ai thingie. I felt like I had something in common with the gate. Are you sure there's nothing magical in it?"

"I couldn't feel any magical power from it." Willow replied thoughtfully. "Don't worry. We'll have plenty of time to find out."

---Two months later---

Willow was sitting in the warehouse and sighed. She didn't have a problem with most of the artifacts stored there, except two things she just wasn't able to understand and it frustrated her. One of them was an obelisk from Quortoth. It was supposed to call the forces of wind and thunder but either the incantation was wrong or it simply didn't work. Willow already called to L.A. for help from Fred and Connor. Fred had experience with other dimensions - she spend three years in Pylea and Connor grew up in Quortoth. They both were already on their way to England and hopefully they could explain how the obelisk was supposed to function. The other object she didn't understand was the mysterious watergate. Why did they even call it this way? There was no symbol of water on it at all.

Willow continued studying the symbols, recalling the last two months. They spend the most time locating and transferring the new slayers, they even persuaded few witches from the Coven to work for them as new watchers. The biggest challenge proved to be the slayers from China. Faith's escape with 40 Chinese slayers across the border with Russia was something that will be remembered. Of course Giles was not happy about the publicity. Three hundred unconscious frontier guards wasn't something the press would overlook, bur Faith's reaction was simple: It's not like we could get the slayers out of China officially.

Of course the language barrier was also a problem. Only a quarter of the newbies could speak English and they had to hire teachers from all over the world just to talk to them. All together they had 435 slayers in the age between 10 and 22 and another 24 were located but haven't been brought in yet. Nobody older then Buffy had been called. Giles thought it was because the new slayers were Buffy's successors. Willow used the Scythe to cancel the calling of girls younger then 10 years. They were too young to train and if they remained their powers they could unintentionally hurt someone.

Willow's thoughts returned to the Chappa-Ai. The Council had obviously used the gate. There was an address on the label as well as the address to Earth. In their report was written the gate led to a primitive world inhabited with humans enslaved by some snake-like demons. They even brought few of the staff weapons the demons used. After the first mission through the gate the Council decided it was too dangerous to use it and abandoned the whole project. Willow examined the weapons but didn't find anything magical about them, the weapons were based on technology that was obviously far more advanced then anything on Earth . The Council had two scientists research the gate. Each of them came with a different idea and both of these ideas seemed like nonsense to Willow. The first one thought the gate could bring people to other dimensions. It sounded almost logical. The primitive world and technologically advanced weapons had a similarity to Pylea where slavers used neckbands created in another dimension. However Willow couldn't find any of the symbols on the gate in any books about various dimensions the Council owned and they owned a lot of them. The other theory said that the gate could take you to different planets. The scientist thought that the symbols represented star constellations. Six symbols defined the destination and the seventh symbol represented the base point. There was just one problem with this theory. Actually there were several:

-If the gate was from another planet someone had to bring it here. How? Using a magical portal or a spaceship?

-The six symbols defining the destination. Connect pairs of the constellations and the point of intersection was the target. But when you have three bisectors in 3D space the bisectors may not have any points of intersection at all and if the symbols were star constellations then they mostly wouldn't. Perhaps the destination wasn't the point of intersection but the center of gravity of the six constellations. That would make more sense.

-The symbols represent star constellations. Willow checked the symbols and only some of them resembled star constellations. It was actually logical. A 3D object - star constellation displayed as 2D symbol would look different from every planet. It depends on from which angle you look at it. But she doubted that an advanced race wouldn't have realized that.

-The number of available combinations is: N!/(720(N-6)!) where N is the number of symbols. With forty symbols its 3 millions 838 thousand 380. If the system had a net of 4 million points spread over the galaxy then the average distance between two points would still be hundreds of light years. The system simply wouldn't be accurate enough.

-The seventh symbol on the gate represents the base point - a planet. That would mean each gate is different as well as the control panel. Each gate would be permanently attached to a planet. But that would make the seventh symbol a redundant information, because the base point would be the always the same.

"I guess there is only one way to find out." Willow thought. But as curious as she was, she knew it's not a good idea to open a portal to a demon world without being prepared. If the gate led to a world where the humans were enslaved by a race of demons, rescuing them wouldn't be a picnic.

----

"I don't see how this is our problem." Buffy remarked after Willow explained her the situation. "We have enough trouble in our own world. We can't save other worlds as well."

"Can't we? Cause the last time I checked there were 459 slayers which is about 458 above the average. We should at least check it out. We might be able to help those people. Also if these demons can travel between dimensions it's only a matter of time before they come here as well." Willow objected.

"Is there anyone else except me who thinks this is a bad idea?" Buffy looked around, hoping to get some support. "Come on. Faith?"

"B what happened to the 'We will help everyone who needs it.' statement?" Faith crossed her arms. "And I don't know about you but I'm damn curious what's on the other side of that thing."

"OK. But if any of you gets killed I'm gonna be pissed off." Buffy gave up the argument. Maybe Willow was right and the slayers should offer their help to other worlds, but Buffy still remembered the snake demon the mayor of Sunnydale turned into. If the demons Willow mentioned were the same kind then fighting only a few of them could cause the death of the whole slayer community. Buffy followed the rest of the gang to the warehouse, carrying the Scythe and her favorite crossbow, hoping they were strong enough to fight what was lurking on the other side of the gate.

It took them several hours to prepare the equipment and weapons they needed. Connor and Fred arrived in the meantime and immediately agreed to join them. "Seventh symbol set." Willow stated, carefully watching the inner circle rotate and the triangular socket connect with the outer ring and lighten up. After it she pushed the orange button in the middle of the control panel. In the beginning nothing seemed to happen but then a whirl of water emerged from the gate. Everybody stepped back and stared at a vertical water level establishing in the circle. "Wow. Now I get why they called it a watergate." Willow remarked. When she didn't feel any danger from the ring, she slowly walked forward to the water, waving to the others to follow her.

"The first explorers of the unknown." Andrew recorded as each member of the small group disappeared in the gate. "Whatever may be waiting for them, they are ready to face it. We can only guess what thoughts now occupy the mind of these brave girls. This event might change the history of our planet. A small step for a slayer, a giant leap in the fight against evil."

End Chapter

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	4. A new world

Rating:PG-13 

Chapter 3 - A new world

**September 2003, unknown planet**

Willow was the first one to reach the other end of the wormhole. She was shivering from the unexpected coolness that took over her body. "Observation number one. Whatever it is, it's not water. And I feel like I just made a trip across the Antarctic in my pyjamas." Willow mused, turning around to see the others were obviously feeling the same. Most of them were shaking and the word ice lolly appeared in her mind when she saw Dawn's face.

Connor was the only one who didn't seem affected at all. As soon as he exited the gate he unsheathed his favorite small sword, surveying the surroundings with a deadly glare and prepared to behead anything that didn't suit him. Not that the rest of them wasn't armed. The gang rummaged the Council's armory before they left and was took a large variety of weapons. Buffy was the only one except Connor who refused to carry a firearm. She was holding the Scythe in her hands, had a crossbow hung over her left shoulder and a stake in a sheath on her tight. Faith was armed with a broad sword and a staff weapon. Once they found a description how to activate it in the Council's reports the staff soon became Faith's favorite weapon. It was perfectly balanced and one shot was enough to make a vampire illuminate the surroundings like a Christmas tree. Kennedy had a HK-CAWS shotgun - an experimental German rifle with a devastating effect when fired at a short range and capable of fully automatic fire. Her secondary weapon was a M24 sniper rifle. Xander and Dawn were equipped with a Steyr-ACR, an excellent Austrian weapon, one of the few based on plastic design instead of metal. Xander also carried several fragmentation grenades. Vi was armed with H&K-G11 assault rifle. Giles decided to take only a Desert Eagle, a pistol he was familiar with from his times as Ripper. Each of them also carried a knife. Originally Willow didn't want to take a firearm either. She had more effective ways to defend herself but Buffy insisted on taking at least a pistol. She was probably right. They had no idea if her magic will work the same way on this world as it had on Earth. 

Buffy watched as a small flame appeared above Willow's hand. It started to grow larger until it formed a sphere. Willow waved her hand and the sphere flew into a nearby stone, shattering it to thousand pieces. 

"That's a great way to make a good first impression Will." Buffy stated. "Maybe we could wait with throwing fireballs at the locals till we actually meet them and they try to eat us or sacrifice us as heretics or something like that." 

"I was just checking my powers." Willow replied with a sheepish grin. "I feel a little weaker then usual but it will pass." 

"Good. Because I have a feeling we might need your abilities."Buffy nodded, looking around for the first time. They were in the middle of a large valley. She could see mountains on the horizon and a sea or possibly a big lake on the other side. Most of the land was covered with forest but in a circle of about 100 meters around the gate were no trees at all. The only other object besides the Chappa-Ai was a stone pillar covered with writings. Giles, Dawn and Willow went to examine the symbols but didn't recognize the language. The pillar was broken in it's middle like it was hit by a lightning, the higher half was lying three meters away from the pedestal. There were also pieces of what maybe used to be a white crystal scattered around the pillar.

A path led from the gate towards the forest. Many footprints on the path indicated that The Scoobies weren't the only ones using the gate. Connor being the only experienced in reading trails examined the path and smirked."I think we have demons to hunt. There are two types of footprint on the path. The first is similar to our own. I think it belongs to the locals. It comes from the forest and stops 20 meters from the gate. Then the same footprints lead back to the forest but their tips are deeper, which means they were running. The second type comes from the gate. It's much deeper and definitely not human. One human did come from the gate though. Maybe he is their prisoner." 

"Or maybe he is the one commanding the demons."Giles suggested. 

"One way or another we will take them down."Buffy replied, with a determined expression. "Willow can you feel them?" 

"No. Either they are too far away or they can cover their presence or the man who came with them is a wizard and he might be blocking my senses. I guess the best option is to follow their trail." 

The group followed the path and soon entered the forest, which to their surprise wasn't as large as it seemed to be when they were looking at it from the gate. After only five minutes they found themselves on the other side and facing a medieval city. The buildings were a combination of two Earth's architectures with thick stone walls typical for the Romanic build and lancets usually used in Gothic churches and cathedrals, their average height was about 15 meters, divided into three floors with thatched roofs on the top. The city was surrounded by fields covered by bundles of cereal straw, but they couldn't see anyone working on them. Plows, flails and other pieces of agricultural instruments were lying around like their owners threw them away in a hurry. Also there was no smoke coming from most of the chimneys, which made the city seem even more desolate. 

"Well. This is a place where I want to spend my holiday."Dawn announced, ignoring the forsaken look, concentrating only at the historical architecture. "After we solve the demon thing of course." 

"You mean that maybe they don't have a rule about teenagers drinking alcohol?" Xander nicked the real reason behind Dawn's interest. 

"Yep. That's the plan." 

Buffy rolled her eyes and continued towards the opened wooden gate. Whatever was going on it was going on inside. Passing the gate, she carefully entered a building that looked like a tavern. The result as was the same as the streets and fields. No one. They didn't meet a soul since they entered left the Chappa-Ai. She found just empty wooden chairs and tables, shelves filled with bottles containing strange greenish liquid. Buffy sniffed at one of the glasses, making a face of disgust. Compared to this was whisky a nutrition for infants. She went into another room, looking for clues when she heard a slender voice behind her. Buffy turned around, catching the sight of a man dressed in brown presumably linen clothes, backing away from her. She grabbed his hand, twisted it behind his back and pressed him against the nearest wall. 

"Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything you want!" 

"Yeah. That's why you sneaked up on me. Definitely a typical way to welcome visitors." Buffy replied, tightening the grip on his arm.

"I thought you were one of the demons. Please!" 

Considering she didn't feel anything demony from him and the fact that he was too week to be a demon Buffy let the man go. He turned around, studying Buffy and the others of her group that were coming inside the tavern just at the moment. He was scared but obviously not of them. "We are not demons." Buffy tried to assure him." Why don't you explain to us what happened here?" 

"Our world has always been protected be our god Thor. But then the demons destroyed his pillar. They came from the skies in their chariots of fire. Their leader's name is..." 

"Vangelis?" Dawn guessed, arching her eyebrow, amused by the man's choice of words. 

"Gulnar. An evil god who..." 

"Oh crap. That's what we needed. Another hellgod." Xander interrupted him, nervously running his hand through the locks of his hair. "I hope it's one of Glory's brothers.", he added, his voice full of sarcasm.

"Well. They might not be as insane as she was." Giles suggested. 

"I think it runs in the family." Xander declared, sounding completely sure about the state of sanity of Glory's relatives. "What can you tell us about this god?", he asked the scared man. 

---- 

Gulnar was pleased with himself. He had a good reason to. It has been ten weeks since the unexpected explosion of the moon near Sokar's capital world destroyed the most of his fleet and even killed Sokar. He used the time of chaos on the worlds Sokar had under his control to create a base on a planet unknown to the System Lords, seizing Sokar's huge resources. The stronghold had a factory for building death gliders, staff weapons, zat guns and could even produce Alkeshs. If things went as planned he soon might be able to build Ha'taks as well and then everyone will bow before him. Yes, things were definitely looking better, but now he needed more slaves to work for him. He couldn't use people living on Sokar's worlds, because Apophis was gaining control and he knew transferring a lot of slaves would be suspicious. As usual there was another way and even though it was a high risk, it was probably the best solution. There were several systems that didn't belong to the Treaty of Protected Planets but were watched by the Asguard nevertheless. They had a pillar in front of the Chappa-Ai that caused anyone with a symbionte disappear. Gulnar had send two Alkeshs to one of these worlds, which managed to destroy the Asguard device and then he waited a week for an Asguard ship to appear, but none came. Now his way to dominate a new world was opened for him. Protected by twenty of Sokar's Unas he entered the wormhole.

It didn't take long to summon all inhabitants to the city's main square. The crowd watched as the Unas essentially tore to shreds about forty local soldiers who tried to oppose the Goa'uld. Gulnar himself was torturing another man, using his ribbon device. This one was dressed in much more expensive looking clothes then others, his cloak was a combination of blue and golden cotton, the rest of his wear was blue with an brocade ornament of an bear-like animal on his chest. "This is the fate of anyone who dares to fight against his god!" He released the shaking, looked at one of his soldiers and then back at the man. The only Unas armed with a staff weapon nodded and aimed. However before he could fire a shot was heard and a bullet bored into his skull, forcing him to drop his weapon and roar in pain. 

"Well. Looks like you are not invulnerable." Xander observed the wounded alien from a window of a nearby house and fired again. The second bullet hit directly into the green monster's left eye and the creature fell to the ground dead. 

The other Unas now knew the location of their attacker and started advancing. Faith, Xander, Giles, Kennedy, Dawn and Vi opened fire at the creatures, trying to aim at their heads, but because none of them had a real experience with firearms most of their bullets hit only the walls behind the approaching enemies. Meanwhile Buffy, Connor and Willow were coming from another street and getting closer to Gulnar and the wounded man who was still lying next to him. Willow concentrated and prepared a fireball to throw at Gulnar. "Don't kill him." Buffy reminded her. "We need informations." Willow nodded and attacked. Buffy and Connor were at her side to protect her in case a demon got too close. Her fireball flew towards the Goa'uld, but a few centimeters in front of him it hit a golden energy shield. 

"Ok. Do we have a plan B?" Willow asked when Gulnar turned his attention to them, completely unharmed. 

"Tauri!! You will pay for this insolence!" 

"I don't know what Tauri is and I don't have any cash." Buffy wanted to add another pun, but a wave of energy threw the three of them backwards against the wall in front of which they were standing. Buffy and Connor recovered quickly, however the impact was too strong for Willow and she fell on the ground unconscious. 

"Why can't you just try to bite me like a vampire? " Buffy grumbled when she loaded her crossbow. She aimed and fired, not really expecting to do any damage, but she needed to get Gulnar's attention away from Willow. To her surprise the arrow passed the energy shield and hit the shoulder of her opponent. 

"What do you know? There is nothing like the good old medieval armament. Connor go help the others. I'll take care of him." Buffy ordered, loading her crossbow once more. Connor nodded and ran towards the second group. 

"Idiots!" Faith swore and stopped firing at the creatures. When the fight broke out the people gathered on the square started running. Most of them choose the direction away from the battle, but approximately thirty headed right into their line of fire and into the bullets that missed the creatures. At least five of them were hit and she had no idea how serious their injuries were. The group stopped shooting and got ready for hand-to-hand combat. These demons were tough. It took hundreds of bullets to take half of them down. The small two-storeyed brick house the gang used as a fort could hardly withstand the attack of the furious aliens, but it was too late to escape. Faith, Xander and Giles chose to cover the main entrance, while Vi, Kennedy and Dawn prepared behind the other. 

"Maybe the holiday thing wasn't such a good idea." Dawn noted, trying to hide how nervous she was. 

"Why? The air is clean, the sky is blue, the food is ... well we didn't have time to try it but I'm sure it's great. And the best thing - no chance to get bored." Xander attempted to cheer her up. 

"But a good chance to get killed.",Vi added. 

The first Unas got in, ripping the main door out of hinges and was immediately beheaded by Faith's sword. Faith tried to repeat the action with the second Unas but her weapon got stuck in the creature's shoulder. When she was trying to pull it out she lost her focus for a fraction of second and the Unas plunged his claws into her arm. The feeling of blood running down her arm didn't stop her from pulling out the sword and sinking it into the creature's chest. Meanwhile the second door opened and another Unas was coming inside. He didn't stay inside for a long time thanks to Kennedy who placed the barrel of her shotgun in front of his face and fired. His body was thrown back into the other approaching creatures. On the other side of the house Giles emptied his last magazine into the nearest enemy, yet it seemed the bullets just made him more angry. He took hold of Giles's hand and pressed. The sound of a cracking bone could be heard and Giles dropped both his pistol and the knife he had in the other hand, trying to hold back the pain.

Xander saw Giles and rushed to help him. He came from behind and stabbed the back of the demon. The Unas let Giles go and swinged his arm at Xander who attempted to duck the punch. He wasn't fast enough though and the impact threw him at the nearest table. Xander saw the demon coming to him and wanted to get away, but he couldn't move, feeling sharp pain in his leg, realizing it was probably broken. The demon was already above him and preparing for a killing blow when a figure flew through the nearby window and fell directly at the monster. Connor raised his sword and slit the demons throat. Then he looked around who needed his help. 

Faith was bleeding from her left arm and leg, fighting two opponents, however she seemed to be holding her own. Vi and Kennedy were both fighting one enemy. Dawn just managed to kill one demon and started to fight another, yet she had a wound on her back, looked worn out and her opponent obviously had an advantage in their struggle. Connor ran towards Dawn, getting between her and the demon she was fighting just in time to save her from being knocked out. He blocked the punch aimed at her head and cut the hand of the creature she was fighting. The Unas wanted to grab him but he ducked and sank his sword precisely into the enemy's stomach. With only four fiends left the gang had the upper hand and quickly eliminated them. 

Buffy watched Connor run away and turned again to Gulnar. He sent another wave against her only this time she was prepared and ducked under it. She fired and her arrow hit Gulnar's leg. It didn't seem to bother him too much though, considering he simply took out the arrow and shot again. 

Buffy realized the crystal on his right arm was the thing that enabled him to create the shield as well as shot the blasts and decided to change her tactic. She threw away her crossbow and grabbed the Scythe. Running towards him, she jumped over his next shot and swung the Scythe cutting away his right arm. Gulnar fell on his knees, screaming in pain. He looked in shock at the blonde woman in front of him. 

"You have a lot to explain buddy." Buffy kicked away the Goa'uld weapon away from his healthy arm to make sure he won't try to attack her later. Then she hurried to the wounded man Gulnar tortured before. He was in shock, lying on the ground, his whole body shaking and sweating. Buffy looked around, unsure how she could help him when a villager run to her, holding a strange crystal in his hands. He placed it on the wounded man's forehead and the crystal glowed white, all cuts and scratches on the man's skin closing up.

"Nifty thingie." Buffy smiled, watching the villager hurry to the wounded townsmen and heal them the same way as his leader. Buffy noticed the rest of the gang already got rid of the other demons and was coming to join her on the square, together with Willow, who regained consciousness in the meantime. As soon as the villager was done with his friends, he used the crystal to heal Faith's, Dawn's, Xanders' and Giles's injuries as well.

"I'm Farad, the king of Taksaran.", the man Gulnar had tortured introduced himself. "In the name of all people on Risol I thank you for your help."

"You're welcome.", Buffy replied, observing the men who fought against the Unas before the gang reached the square. They definitely weren't just random villagers, but probably guards of the king. "Your men?"

"Yes.", the king nodded. "They protected me, but the demons were too strong. I don't what would happen if you didn't come to help us. How can we repay you?"

"That crystal your servant used to heal his friends.", Buffy replied thoughtfully. "Can we borrow it?"

"I'm afraid this is the only thing I can't give you for free.", Farad sighed. "The stone is holy for our people and according the old rule you'd have to defeat our champion Firon, the guard of our temple, in an axe fight and even then the stone can leave our city only for three days after the solstice."

"Really?" Buffy grinned, picking up the Scythe. "Then we have one problem solved." 

---- 

It took only one day to arrange the duel between Buffy and Firon. In the beginnig the Risolian warrior refused to fight against a small woman, but the king insisted. If Farad didn't see Buffy defeat a Goa'uld, he would never doubt Firon's victory, but now he was anxious to see the duel. In the meantime Giles, Faith and Willow returned to Earth with Gulnar for interrogation, hoping he will explain more about the demon threat.

Buffy, the gang and a large crowd of villagers, townsmen and soldiers from all parts of the kingdom gathered at the same square where Gulnar proclaimed himself as their god the previous day. Firon, the man Buffy was about to face, was dressed pretty much as the other soldiers from his kingdom. Brown dusty leather boots reaching almost to his knees, cloth pants secured by a black belt, his torso protected by hauberk, a helmet with a symbol of a blue four-winged bird, which was the emblem of their elite troops. He carried a large double axe, it's edges in the shape of a half-moon and clearly a work of a proficient craftsman. Firon himself was almost two meters tall, Buffy's head barely reaching the height of his chest and it wasn't surprising he eyed his female opponent with a presumptuous expression spreading over his face. On the other hand, when she studied him closely, he didn't look as the arrogant fop she expected. His features were kind and sort of upset.

"You don't seem to be very enthusiastic about this fight.", Buffy greeted her rival.

"My fellow soldiers will laugh when the tale about this duel reaches their ears by the bonfire. The children and women will whisper my name when they hurl a stone to scare away a hyena.", he replied sadly. "My greatest victory shall be against a woman."

"I guess feminism didn't reach these lands yet, huh?", Buffy arched her eyebrow, more amused then irritated. "I assure you that if you defeat me, which I seriously doubt, the generations to come will remember your name as the greatest warrior of our time."

"You really believe you can win.", he stated, clearly surprised. "Perhaps it's the purpose of your fight that gives you the strength to face your enemies without fear in you eyes? No matter who wins, the people of my homeland will celebrate the defeat of the evil god who tried to enslave us and laugh at me, because I wasn't there when it happened."

"If you were, you'd be probably dead by now.", Buffy objected. "And I certainly didn't come here to lose. Shall we?"

Firon nodded and raised his double axe for the first attack. His swing was aimed precisely at the middle of the Scythe's handle and if Buffy didn't have her slayer reflexes it would cut her weapon in a half. Buffy blocked the assault, sparks flying as the edges of their axes met. Firon stepped back to gain a more advantageous position and then he tried again, lunging forward, this time swinging his weapon horizontally with such a speed and force the blow could easily chop off Buffy's head. However before Firon's axe reached the place where her neck was, Buffy ducked and sommesaulted to get behind him. Without hitting the target, Firon lost his balance and Buffy easily stopped his attempt to regain his footing by tripping up his legs. He fell to the ground, trying to turn around and stand up, but Buffy didn't give him time to regain his previous position. As soon as he turned to his back, she kicked his axe out of his hands and brought the Scythe uncomfortably close to his neck.

"In case you wonder...", Buffy pressed the Scythe closer to Firon's skin, "...this is a good time to give up."

"I yield." , Firon managed to rasp out, stunned how quickly Buffy disarmed him. He was even more surprised when she offered her hand to help him up. The crowd began to cheer, celebrating her victory and Farad was about to congratulate Buffy for her success when Faith came running to Buffy, meanwhile alerting the rest of the gang.

"Faith you look like you have eaten a good-sized bowl of goblin fish." Buffy remarked, watching the expression on the other slayer's face. She abandoned the ring, sending short thanks to the king, excused herself and followed Faith with the rest of the group to the gate. "What's up?", Buffy asked after they passed the entrance to the square.

"Willow did a truth spell to force Gulnar give us all information.", Faith informed Buffy on the way trough the city. "Giles summoned all slayers and watchers to the gym to tell the results to every one and believe me you want to hear that."

---- 

Twenty minutes later all 459 slayers together with over a hundred watchers were assembled in the gym and waiting for Willow and Giles to begin. Willow started explaining. About the system of Chappa-Ai build by an alien race called the Ancients, the Goa'uld taking over human bodies as hosts, the System Lords wielding the power in this galaxy... 

..."The Goa'uld have enemies fighting against them." Willow continued her explanation. "The Tauri. Humans. Gulnar described them as primitive, but he described us as primitive as well and when we first attacked him he originally thought we were Tauri so I think their level of technology is similar to ours. They don't have spaceships but use their Chappa-Ai to travel to other planets. The reason the Goa'uld didn't destroy their civilization is because their world belongs to the 'Treaty of Protected planets'. The Riitu. Aliens.Those of you who saw 'Starship Troopers' pretty much know how they look like. They are very intelligent and have technology that can match the Goa'uld. They also exist in a different phase so they are invisible to a human eye, however the Goa'uld have weapons that can make them visible. The Riitu homeworld was attacked and destroyed by the System Lords and only a few of them managed to escape. The Tok'ra. They are physically identical to the Goa'uld but they don't force the humans to become hosts. Gulnar didn't know how many of them exist. They mostly pretend to be Goa'uld and act as spies, trying to weaken the Goa'uld control in this galaxy. The Asguard. Aliens. They are the most powerful of their enemies and the Goa'uld fear them. They created the 'Treaty of protected planets' and their ships attack if any Goa'uld tries to take over a world that belongs to the Treaty. Bad news is our planet is not part of the treaty." 

"So let me summarize this." Buffy interrupted Willow's lecture. "What we fought were not demons but aliens. They have superior technology and can come any time to the Earth with a fleet of deadly ships. We don't have a chance to stop them." 

"So what are we going to do about it?" Dawn asked the question that plagued the minds of all people in the gym. 

"Willow. You have the complete control over Gulnar right?" Buffy inquired. 

"I do.", Willow replied, unaware how the control over him could help them.

"Well." Buffy smirked. "Then I think Gulnar will do us a favor." 

End Chapter 

Review Please. 


	5. Operation Cleansweep

Rating:PG-13 

Chapter 4-Operation Cleansweep

**Council's Manor, Earth**

She was running. She was running as fast as she could. There was just one thought in her mind - to get there in time. Her destination was just a few hundred meters away, but she was already getting tired. She was training in the morning and now she was beginning to feel it. Her legs were getting heavier, however she kept her pace with determination. She knew every single second was important. THEY were coming. None of the slayers expected THEM, not so soon. A group patrolling in the woods detected THEM only a few kilometers away. Luckily the group got into cover before THEY could see the young slayers. Why did it have to happen when Buffy, Giles and Robin were on another planet? At least there was Willow. Dawn ran into the manor house's common room and shouted."Cleansweep!!" 

Dawn had to use a cabinet as support to catch her breath. When she felt better, she reached for her weapon that was lying on one of the tables. "Cleansweep!!" Dawn shouted again and everybody in the common room froze in terror. All slayers knew what this operation was and what the results could be. 

"Rona your group will take the ground floor!", Kennedy shouted. She and Willow were in charge during the time when Buffy, Faith and Giles were away and she usually enjoyed it. Right now she would do anything to be somewhere else. "Linda. The first floor.Vi. Your group takes the classrooms. Lin. The weapons on the roof. Shael's group. Alarm everyone in the house, the gym and the warehouse. Tsu. Monitor THEIR approach. Move!!!" 

All groups disappeared from the common room in several seconds. Kennedy and Dawn were the only people who stayed. "How much time do we have Dawn?" 

"Less then four minutes I guess. I have to go and help the others.", Dawn rushed to the gym.

Kennedy nodded, running to the first floor, taking three steps at once. Linda's group was good, but she just needed to see if they make it in time. Four minutes! The record was five! Kennedy ran many simulations of this operation. Buffy knew sooner or later this day would come and she wanted to be prepared, however no training is like the real experience. Kennedy was scared. She knew Willow will be in the first line this time. 

"How much time?", Kennedy asked Tsu who was standing next to a window with binoculars. 

"THEY are about 100 meters from the manor's gate. I guess about two minutes.", Tsu observed the path leading to the entrance. 

"Damn!" Kennedy was getting more and more terrified. She knew that the six slayers guarding the gate will slow THEM down. But not for a long time. Thirty seconds. Maybe forty. Then the guards will have to retreat. Trying to hold THEM back for a longer period would be risky. 

"Status!", Kennedy bark into her transmitter. 

"Ground floor ready!" 

"First floor ready!" 

"Roof ready!" 

"Classrooms. Classrooms! Your status!" 

"We need another two minutes.", Vi replied, nervousness radiating from her voice. 

"We don't have another two minutes! Make the final adjustments! THEY are almost here!" 

Kennedy ran back to the main entrance of the house. So this is the place where it happens. She will have a serious talk with Vi later. How is it possible that Vi didn't know? She saw Willow slowly approaching the entrance of the house and gave her a reassuring smile. To say her girlfriend looked nervous would be an underestimate. She came to Willow and took her hand into her own. 

"You can do this Willow. I know it's gonna be hard, but we can make it together." 

Willow smiled at her, took a deep breath and went in front of the house. A black almost six meters long limousine stopped next to her and a couple in their forties got out. The man was dressed in an expensive looking tuxedo, his features neutral in contrast to the woman who studied Willow and Kennedy with a sincere curiosity. 

"I'm Michael Fuller and this is my wife Rebecca. We are Vi's parents.", the man introduced himself. 

"I'm professor Willow Rosenberg.", Willow replied, shaking his hand. "Welcome to the Watcher's Council private school." 

End Chapter 

A/N: This was just an idea I got and thought it would be fun to write. Well. Was this chapter what you expected? 


	6. First Contact

Rating:R for the F... word 

Chapter 5 - First contact

**Two days after Gulnar's interrogation, planet P3X 472**

"So much for an easy mission."commented Jack with an angry expression while running to a large stone for cover. He saw the rest of his team and Jacob do the same. 

Two days ago Sam's father Jacob had visited the SGC and reported that the Tok'ra have information that Cronus will be transferring a sarcophagus. The destination planet was one of the less protected of Cronus's worlds and Jacob's symbiote Selmak thought it wouldn't be difficult to capture it. Of course general Hammond agreed with the operation. To have a working sarcophagus was the dream of all lab coats in area 51 and it would enable to save countless lives. That's why SG-1 and Jacob had taken a transport ship ,landed on this planet and waited hidden near the stargate, which was situated in the end of a large valley. Anyone who chose the location definitely wasn't stupid, because the gate was surrounded from three sides by high cliffs and in case of an attack the aggressors would find themselves in a not enviable situation. Right now one of these cliffs was hiding members of SG-1 waiting for Cronus's Jaffa to bring them their present. There were only five guards near the gate and defeating them shouldn't be a problem. However when the gate activated and Jaffa started emerging from the event horizon they couldn't see any cargo. The likely reason was that those Jaffa didn't belong to Cronus. The symbol on their forehead indicated Sokar's soldiers which meant this was an attack was probably initiated by Apophis. That damned snakehead was now controlling Sokar's worlds and again becoming one of the most powerful Goa'uld. 

"Looks like Cronus said something bad about Apophis's mother.", Jack noted, making sure to stay in cover, away from the sight of the coming Jaffa. 

"Indeed O'Neill." Teal'c agreed, calm as usual. 

"I assure you Jack the Tok'ra didn't know anything about this attack." Jacob tried to persuade the commander of SG-1. 

"Oh really? You know this is the part where I'm not surprised. If I didn't know better I would think this is one of Anisse's practical jokes." 

"Sir. Another regiment of Jaffa is coming to the gate.", Carter observed the other side of the cliff where the group was hidden. "Their trajectory has intersection with our current position. I think we should relocate to 24 degrees ,50 minutes and 32 seconds of eastern longitude. I recommend the maximum velocity of the reposition." she suggested, holding the map of the surrounding area.

"What?" Jack inquired with a confused expression on his face. 

"We should get out of here and run to the forest.",Daniel explained. 

"Why couldn't she say that?" 

SG-1 and Jacob retreated to the trees and watched the battle between the two groups. Apophis's Jaffa were slowly gaining the upper hand when three Alkeshs and approximately twenty Death gliders appeared above the battlefield and opened fire. With no ships to support them Apophis's Jaffa started to retreat. They wanted to escape through stargate but it was too late. The area around stargate was now controlled by Cronus's ships. The battle was soon over with no survivors on Apophis's side. 

"We have no chance to capture the sarcophagus with all those ships protecting it.", Jacob snorted. 

Jack realized Jacob was right."OK kids. The mission's over. I can't wait to write the reports. We came. We saw. We escaped." 

"Sir. This doesn't make any sense. Why would Apophis send hundred warriors to attack Cronus without any support? Dad. Do you have an idea what's behind this?" Sam wanted to know. 

"I seriously don't. Our agents spying Apophis informed us he is still strengthening his position. To sacrifice so many Jaffa without a good reason would be lunacy." Jacob's symbiote Selmak replied."Maybe there is something on this planet we don't know about which I find very disturbing." 

"We will leave the theories for debriefing and get out of here. I had enough surprises for today." Jack ordered. The group entered their cloaked transport ship and left P3X 472, ruminating about what has Apophis hidden in his sleeve. 

**Planet Antara**

The stargate deactivated and left the Scooby Gang together with more than 30 other members of SWC (Slayers&Watchers Council) standing in front of their new base. 

"And they really just obeyed and left? I mean they didn't find it at least suspicious?" Buffy asked, walking on a grassy path alongside Willow, surprised how the witch could make a hundred Jaffa abandon their posts to fight a battle they couldn't win. 

"They wouldn't dare to oppose Gulnar. Their god told them to leave so they left. I sent them to attack one of Cronus's worlds. Gulnar's soldiers previously belonged to Sokar which means Cronus will think it was Apophis behind the attack. I wonder if they succeeded. One way or another the stronghold is empty. I wonder if there is a ring transport leading from the base to the gate." 

"You really understand all this technology stuff?" Buffy wondered. 

"I don't."Willow shook her head, a little disappointed there was a technology she couldn't understand. "Gulnar explained to me how everything works and how to use it, however most of these theories are far beyond my knowledge of physics and astronomy, not mentioning the other information about ships materials, Goa'uld cell structures or chemical compounds." 

"The wormhole principle is fascinating. And the anti gravitation? I can't wait to see the ships."Fred added. 

The group continued their walk with Fred and Willow discussing various Goa'uld equipment. The base they were heading to consisted of three golden pyramid shaped, over 150 meters high buildings that reminded Willow of Inca architecture and were connected by large corridors forming a equilateral triangle . The first of them contained a hangar for Alkeshs and storage rooms. The second one was the production facility itself and the third was a residential building . The whole base was surrounded by rain forest and Buffy made a mental note to take a large amount of bug spray next time. There were also eight about twenty five meters high towers standing around the base that left Buffy wondering about their purpose. 

"Orbital guns."Willow pointed out. 

"You know it's not proper to enter unless you are invited ? I still prefer talking to telepathy." 

"Sorry Buffy but you seemed so eager to know about the towers. With concentrated fire they can take down a Ha'tak." 

The gang entered the first pyramid and stared in astonishment at the nine ships inside. "This type of ship is called Alkesh.", Willow described the ship. "It's a tactical bomber. Twenty meters high, thirty meters long and fifteen meters wide. It's equipped with a hyper-drive engine, ring transport, cloaking field and can carry forty bombs and thirty soldiers." 

"That's great Red. Care to explain what are we going to do with them?" Faith muttered. 

"What could we possibly do with spaceships Faith. What about ... I don't know ... flying them?" Buffy replied, shaking her head. 

"B. You do remember that I didn't even finish high school right?" 

"You don't need to understand the molecular structure of wood to sit on a chair Faith." 

"But all I need is a chair to knock you unconscious.", Faith countered. "I have a better idea why don't we contact one of these Goa'uld enemies Red was talking about?" 

"We can't. "Willow shook her head, recalling the information the captured Goa'uld gave them. "Gulnar has no idea how to contact the Asguard. The Riitu have a bad habit to forget bombs in towns full of civilians and the Tauri are almost the same. They blew up a moon with hundreds of prisoners to destroy Sokar's fleet." 

"So we are on our own. I REALLY didn't expect that."Buffy snorted."Usually we get SO much help!" 

**Three months later - December 2003, Risol**   
"Thank you for your trust and cooperation. And please don't forget our agreement." Lin bowed before Farad, the king of Taksaran, the united kingdom on Risol and accepted the Stone of Changes as well as a purse full of diamonds. 

"It is us who should be thankful. If your people didn't help us against the Goa'uld and Unas many lives would have been lost. I hope our nations will remain friends in the future and continue the trade between our worlds. Of course we will honor our agreement. None of us reveals anything about your people or where you come from. In case somebody will ask we just say you are slayers." Farad expressed his thanks. 

Lin bowed again and started walking towards the entrance of the palace where Tsu joined her. She hoped Farad and his subordinates won't forget to keep theirs mouths shut. The last thing the SWC needed was a Goa'uld knowing the address to Earth. She took her staff weapon from one of the guards and they headed to the main gate of the city. Even though she was a friend of the king she still wasn't allowed to carry a weapon in his presence. In contrast to others she preferred the staff weapon to Steyr-ACR which was now the prevailing gear in off world part of SWC. It was logical - the most slayers were to short to effectively use the practically two meters long weapon. Lin was almost 180 centimeters tall and handled the staff without problems. Buffy will be definitely pleased with the result of this negotiation. Farad kept his word and lend them the Stone of Changes - a supposedly Asguard device able to reshape the structure of material and heal injuries and they also got diamonds worth 50 million pounds to finance the SWC. 

In the beginning none of them realized how expensive running operations on other planets would become. Even the resources of the Council weren't enough to cover the demands. Only the reconstruction of the inner equipment of residential buildings on Antara to make it a little more comfortable then Siberian prison cost over 40 million pounds. That's why SWC originated trade relations with Risol, selling mostly accessories for agriculture and buying gold and jewelry. Giles decided against Fred's idea to sell electricity produced by a naquadah generator in England, because sooner or later somebody would wonder where all the energy came from. 

A week after they annexed Antara, Buffy and Giles decided to separate the SWC into two fractions. The first remained traditional and fought demons and vampires on the Earth while the other part concentrated on Goa'uld. Giles and Rona became leaders of the Earth's fraction. Buffy wanted Kennedy to help them, but Kennedy refused because she wanted to spend more time with Willow who was their key to the Goa'uld knowledge. The new hired watchers were mostly specialists in various scientific branches and studied Goa'uld technology, while slayers learned to use their weapons and fly their ships. Lin laughed when she remembered Faith's first attempt to pilot a Death glider. Somebody had forgotten to tell her that when you fly a ship equipped with an antigravitation module than the up arrow on control panel really means going UP and not FORWARD. As soon as she touched the controls her glider hurled upwards and hit the hangar's ceiling. Lin's first flight wasn't much better and she was glad Faith wasn't there to see it. Lin was glad Faith became her superior. She liked Buffy, but Faith was much more open-minded and preferred to highlight people's strengths instead of bore them with lectures about their weakness. Unlike Faith, Buffy would also hardly spend her free time with them. Faith met Lin and Tsu in China when she was searching for new slayers and Lin's origin was the main reason she insisted on being part of the fight against the Goa'uld. The slavery system applied on Goa'uld worlds resembled the situation in her homeland. She couldn't change the circumstances in China, but this fight gave her a chance to make a difference. Lin recalled how Faith had come to her family's house in Nan-jang and had used her terrible american accent to explain that Lin can come with her to England. Their escape across the Russian border made Lin realize it might have been more safe to stay in her hometown. She got shot in her shank, the bullet partially shattering the bone. Thank god for slayer healing. Her first encounter with a vampire wasn't exactly a pleasant experience either but Lin never regretted her decision. 

"Did you hear that?", Lin's thoughts were interrupted by Tsu. 

"All I hear are these annoying four-winged birds. Maybe I should try to shoot one of them and see if..." 

All at once Lin and Tsu found themselves surrounded by five unknown soldiers dressed in dark green clothing and armed with some kind of submachine guns. 

Colonel Roberts was considering his options. Soon after his group came to Risol he realized the Stone of Changes will be much more difficult to acquire then expected. Risol used to have three kingdoms which had been fighting for superiority over the last two centuries. Meaning? Their capital was surrounded by four meters high stockade, all roads leading to the city were watched and Taksaran soldiers were not just a bunch of unprepared amateurs they usually dealt with. The stone was situated inside a temple in the middle of the city and guarded by two hundred soldiers twenty-eight hours a day. Of course they were armed only with swords and bows, but defeating them with six men would be at least hazardous. Not mentioning the palace guards would come to their aid as soon as the fight would break out. He wished his squad was equipped with some somniferous gas, but they didn't get any new supplies since SG-1 captured their gate. To be a part of NID, a civilian organization that controlled secret government and military projects, really sucked sometimes. An hour ago he almost ordered his five men to resign this mission when they noticed two dark-haired women leave the city, carrying the Stone of Changes towards the stargate. They were dressed in black combat outfit and armed with staff weapons, which left Roberts wondering who they were. He never heard about a Goa'uld that would use women as Jaffa. It didn't really matter. Their mission was to obtain the Stone, they needed alien technology to protect the Earth. He aimed at the woman closer to him and fired. 

Lin saw Tsu fall to the ground, blood pouring from her neck. "Fuckers!" She shouted and fired at the nearest soldier, the blast hitting his chest and killing him. That's all she could do before her body was ripped apart by tens of bullets. 

----

Faith, Willow, Xander and twenty fully armed slayers emerged from the wormhole to see fifty temple's guards awaiting them. When Lin and Tsu hadn't returned as planned Faith had waited for three hours then she put together twenty slayers and hurried to Risol. 

"I want to know what's going on. Now!" Faith demanded. 

"I'm afraid I bring nil reports." the man whom Faith recognized as Firon, now the leader of the temple's guards answered. "Your friends as well as ten of our men guarding the Chappa-Ai were murdered and the Stone of Changes was stolen." 

Faith rushed to Farid and pinned him against the nearest tree."What happened to them?" 

"It might be better if I show you.", Firon addressed the angry slayer, gasping for breath. Faith let him down and quickly followed his soldiers to a glade in the forest between the gate and the city. "We heard sounds that resembled the noise created by your weapons and rushed to the Chappa-Ai. On the way we found your friends.", Firon explained, keeping a save distance from the slayer. 

Faith and the others stared in horror at the two bodies in front of them. In fact it was only one body. What used to be Lin was now just a mixture of body parts in a pool of blood. Several slayers didn't withstand the sight and ran to the trees for a quick barf. 

"I assure you Taksaran had nothing to do with this massacre." Firon tried to persuade Faith, but stepped back when he saw the look she gave him. He was a soldier and he recognized the fire in her eyes. That look meant 'If you say another word I'll kill you.' . 

Faith could barely control her rage. Lin and Tsu were Faith's best students and two of the few real friends she had. She considered all her students friends, but she didn't usually spend her free time with them. Lin and Tsu were an exception, she liked them from the day she met them. They both had a messed up childhood and Faith found out the three of them had a lot in common. When Lin was talking about her father who became sober only when arrested Faith was the one to listen. 

Faith turned her attention to Willow who was now examining the bodies with a cold expression on her face. "Do you have something ?" 

"I think I have an idea who did this. The guards, Lin and Tsu were killed by guns and I know only one civilization besides our's that uses projectile weapons and travels through Chappa-Ai." 

"The Tauri did this ? I guess this is the end of 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend theory.'" Xander reacted. 

"You're right." Willow agreed. "We have to warn all teams and tell them to avoid Tauri in case they encounter them." 

"And what if it comes to a confrontation?" one of the slayers asked. 

Faith looked back at the two corpses. 

"Kill them all." 

End Chapter 

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	7. Vengeance

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 6-Vengeance

**January 2004, planet P4X 835**

Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c left the wormhole and observed their surroundings, looking for any possible threat."This is bad. Very very bad." Jack declared with unhappy expression as soon as he saw the planets flat rocky surface, parched by the near sun that caused the average temperature was above forty Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). The landscape looked almost as a desert.

"I can not recognize any immediate danger O'Neill." Teal'c announced with his typical stoic voice, watching the path that led away from the stargate.

"Trees Teal'c!"

"There are no trees here Sir." Sam countered.

"Exactly ! No trees means trouble. I'm quite sure in 99 percent of our missions no trees meant trouble and there is not a single shrub on this plane." Jack announced. "We'll get fried or eviscerated within a minute. You'll see."

"Jack as fascinating the lack of trees is I think we should go to the temple." Daniel beg the commander of his team.

It had been more than a year but Daniel remembered everything about his previous exploration of the temple. Sam's analyze of various objects inside hinted that the building was at least ten thousand years old. During their last visit they didn't have enough time to finish the research because of Apophis and than the priorities changed. However now he had several days before they had to return and Daniel was eager to find out as much as possible. Of course Jack wasn't thrilled by the idea to spend time 'digging old rocks' how he called it, but Daniel managed to persuade him saying there might be some ancient weapons they could use against the Goa'uld. He knew Jack was just edgy because he couldn't bring the fishing rod so he would at least have something to do while he and Sam will be analyzing the artifacts. Of course actual eating the fish was out of question, but Jack loved fishing more than Daniel his old relics.

The four of them were slowly reaching the end of the stony plane around the stargate and coming to an area with much softer surface when Teal'c suddenly stopped and got his submachine gun ready, his eyes focusing on the path in front of them.

"What's up big guy ?" Jack inquired.

"There are many footprints of Jaffa. At least thirty, but probably more." Teal'c informed after he studied the path closer. "The footprints are not older then one hour."

"See Carter? No trees equals trouble." Jack proved his point. "Ok. Teal'c and Carter on the left. I and Daniel will take the right."

The group carefully continued along the path until they came to a small creek that encircled a village, which lay in front of the temple. The village consisted of approximately twenty square houses with thin wooden walls and roofs. Jack also saw a few cloth tents along the creek. The temple itself was much bigger. Two at least hundred meters long lines of ten meters high columns supported a triangular roof, reminding Daniel of the old Greek temple in Athens. Each column was decorated with different carvings, the entrance guarded by sculptures of two soldiers in chain armor wielding a buckler, their spears crossed above the marble stairway.

"The village is empty. The locals presumably escaped from the Jaffa." Teal'c informed his team after searching in several cottages.

"And where are the Jaffa ?" Daniel inquired, a little worried by the unusual situation.

"The footprints lead directly into the temple Daniel Jackson."

"Well. Than let's have a look what's so interesting inside." Jack ordered and the group carefully entered the large building.

--Three hours sooner--

Faith was studying the scene around the village, looking very frustrated. There was nothing but a few stones and that wouldn't give them enough cover during the assault. And the buildings? Their walls were made of wood and were very thin because of the lack of trees on this planet. They could hardly stop an arrow and a staff weapon would probably level a whole house with just one shot. How were they supposed to stop more then hundred Jaffa with four slayers? Faith sighed. She promised help to the leader of the village and now she was considering retreat.

"Will he send here more slayers ?" Faith asked Vi when the other slayer returned from the Chappa-Ai.

"He can't." Vi shook her head. "Buffy's group got stuck on one of the unexplored worlds. I bet she could use some help herself and there is currently no one older than sixteen available in the manor. As you know, the other Scoobies went to LA to visit Fred and ask her to help Willow with some research and also get some books about demonology for Giles. But we have this." Vi pointed at her bag.

Faith took the bag from Vi, curious about the content. She opened it and frowned, looking very confused. The bag was full of ... oranges.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Faith took out one orange. "We need slayers not vitamins!" Faith threw the fruit away, slightly confused Vi wasn't angry about Giles's strange way to help them. "G-man got crazy."

"No!" Vi shouted when she saw what Faith did. She jumped at Faith, pulling both of them down and covered her head with her arms. Luckily for the two slayers, the force Faith used to throw the orange caused it flew more then 50 meters before it fell to the ground. "That's not an orange it's an orb of Lunac and it's quite fragile. When it hit's something it sometimes..."

Suddenly the orb exploded, pieces of stone and sand flying towards them. When the dust settled Faith saw a three meters wide crater where the orb landed.

"...blows up." Vi finished. "It's from some different dimension and can be used pretty much as a bomb."

Vi took out another smaller orb that looked like it was split in a half and then put together again. "All you have to do is turn the higher half 90 degrees and all orbs explode." She gave the smaller orb to Faith. " The problem is we don't have enough of them to kill hundred Jaffa in open space. We need them to be close to each other."

"Didn't your leader say you always defended yourselves in the temple when the Jaffa attacked?" Faith turned her attention to a villager."And they know it right?"

"Yes." The man answered. "We always gathered in the temple because it's much easier to defend then the village. The last time they even didn't bother to check our houses and headed right away to the temple."

"Good." Faith nodded, already knowing what they had to do. She wondered what would Giles think if he knew he gave them an instrument to destroy a 'who knows how many years old' temple, since he qualified spilling coffee on a old book the eighth capital sin.

It didn't take long to place one orb to every temple's pillar. Then they retreated two hundred meters away from the building and hid behind several small rocks. They didn't have to wait long. Faith smirked when she saw the whole group of Jaffa enter the building. She prepared to turn the orb when she noticed four figures near the entrance of the temple.

"Who are these idiots?" Faith wondered, observing the group. They were dressed in khaki and obviously ready to enter the temple. She almost stood up to yell at them and warn them when she recognized they were carrying guns. They were Tauri.

"Should we warn them ? We would blow our cover." Vi asked.

Faith closed her eyes and stayed still for several seconds, her face showing various emotions that occupied her mind. Then her face turned a cold mask. "No. Let them inside."

Faith's POV

My fingers tremble and I feel like all blood is being drained from my body. Is this how it's like ? When you can end lives of so many people with a single movement of your hand? Sure I did it before, but it was always one victim. One body to think about, not a hundred. Is there really a difference ? No. Even if you killed just one you are still a murder. It's not HOW MANY it's WHY that matters. Can we stop these Jaffa if we don't destroy the building?

What about Lin and Tsu?

Don't bring them into this!

They killed them!

You don't know that.

Really? Did you see their weapons? Lin and Tsu were murdered by guns.

Anyone can use a gun.

Can anyone travel through Chappa-Ai?

No.

Then what are you waiting for ?

It could have been an accident.

Accidentally killed by forty bullets ?

You're right. But I won't do it.

Do you remember China ? When you promised Lin's mother you will take care of her daughter?

Shut up.

Do you remember the evenings you had spent with her? Hugging her when she told you about her father?

Shut up!

Do you remember what you felt when you first looked at her corpse?

I remember.

Faith's hand reached for the orb slowly turning it. Then she jerked her hand away. "I can't do it. Not without proves it was this group who killed them. I can't do it."

"I can." a Chinese slayer next to her turned the orb before Faith could stop her. A set of explosions echoed through the space around the temple. The massive temple's pillars weakened and couldn't withstand the pressure of the heavy roof anymore. The top of the building collapsed, killing everyone inside.

**Planet P4X 835, one week later**

A man watched with thoughtful expression his soldiers while they were removing the remnants of the destroyed building. They still didn't find anything. Not one prove that their team was buried under the tons of debris. Three days ago when they had come to this planet the locals told them that in the fight with Jaffa four of their men were killed. When he asked what happened the leader of the villagers refused to reveal more than the fact that some black warriors helped them defeat the Jaffa. He called them slayers, but refused to tell him anything else. The man sighed. General Hammond will kick his ass if they don't find at least one of them.

"Colonel! Colonel! We have one!" a soldier shouted at him.

The Colonel ran towards the remains of the temple, watching his men remove a motionless body away from the heap of stones. He slowed down and ordered the men to turn the body towards him. He saw the man's face. It was ... his own face.

"Carter. Care to explain what's going on here? Daniel?"

Teal'c raised his eyebrow. "This body has a remarkable resemblance to your own O'Neill."

"No kidding. What I would like to hear is what is my body doing in this temple." Jack growled.

"It's your copy Sir. The robot copy we left at PX 3989."

End Chapter

Author's note:This chapter is based on Stargate's episode 4-21-Double Jeopardy.

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	8. Lost part 1

Rating PG-13

Chapter 7 - Lost - part 1

Buffy ran away from gate as fast as she could, though she knew it was too late to hide. She wished she had left to LA to visit Fred and Angel with the others, instead of trying another Chappa-Ai address Gulnar gave them and bursting right into an outpost of an unknown Goa'uld. Buffy planned to stay on Earth for some time. She didn't see Giles much in the last few months and she missed spending time with him. Of course she did visit Earth quite often, but she never stayed for long. This time it was supposed to be be different. Faith and Willow promised to take care of everything and she would have a whole week to watch Giles drink tea, clean his glasses and make his life miserable. She was looking forward to doing the old fashion things like staking vampires, watching girly movies or introducing Giles to modern music. Buffy wondered how Giles managed to stay sane in a school with over three hundred teenage girls when she alone was able to drive him crazy when she was younger. Now instead of a deserved recreation, she was on an enemy planet, all her companions were dead and her transmitter broke right after she had sent a warning to Giles that he should forget about sending reinforcements. The gate was heavily guarded, she even spotted a Ha'tak landing on the other side. She traveled to this planet with another three slayers, hoping to find new allies and of course finding nothing but plenty of Jaffa. 

The others didn't agree with Buffy's idea to ask people from the worlds they visited to actively participate in their fight, but when Buffy summarized how much the SWC managed to change in the last few months, she came to an unpleasant conclusion. Nothing. Her's, Faith's and Kennedy's teams overrun several Jaffa troops but it didn't change the distribution of power in the galaxy and it only got a number of slayers killed. The SWC needed an advantage - something that would give them superiority over the System Lords's fleet. Buffy knew they were unable to build ships themselves, because it's a little useless to have a factory without the necessary material which was naquadah. Xander said his crew had found small deposits of naquadah on a planet called Verona, a world previously ruled by a Goa'uld called Anubis who left the planet six hundred years ago and maybe one day they will be able to reconstruct the old Goa'uld mine. Buffy was also thinking about stealing some ships from Apophis, but it's easier said then done. It wasn't like she could just knock on his sarcophagus and say: Hi. Can I borrow your new warship? I promise to bring it back before midnight! Willow didn't have so much luck with modifications of the Goa'uld technology as expected and they still didn't understand most of the information Gulnar gave them. Willow's only success was the almost finished prototype of an advanced staff weapon. Maybe Fred, who left back to L.A. with Connor several days after Gulnar's capture, could help but Buffy didn't want Angel and especially Wolfram&Hart to know about stargate. Buffy, Giles, Fred and Connor agreed they won't reveal anything unless necessary. 

Buffy reached a group of trees, hoping it would give her enough cover and took out her zat gun, regretting she wasn't able to save any other weapon during their encounter with the Jaffa few minutes before. The guards attacked them as soon as the four slayers left the wormhole and Buffy was very lucky to be alive at all. She ducked behind a large rock, watching another group of Jaffa with a symbol on their foreheads she had never seen before emerge from the gate and advance to her position. Buffy prepared to attack them when she heard a pair of Death gliders flying towards her and the group. She fetched a sight of relief when the ships continued flying towards the gate, which meant they probably didn't notice her. It wouldn't change her situation a lot though - the enemy already knew where she was hiding. Buffy stood up and wanted to run again to find a better place to defend herself when she heard a zat gun fire. She didn't notice that another Jaffa was coming from the other direction when she was hiding from the gliders. Buffy felt the impact of the shot on her back and tried to fight the feeling of weariness that started spreading through her body even though she already knew it was useless. Her legs lost the strength to support her and she fell to the ground unconscious. 

---- 

Once again Hammond summoned Jack's team and Jacob to his office for briefing and to discuss to events of the last week. It has been three days since Jack pretended to steal a disarming device from the Tolan and leave the SGC, which enabled him to infiltrate NID's secret offworld operation and with the help from Thor he managed to catch all their agents. When the Thor's ship arrived to the secret NID base, it transported away all stolen Asguard equipment, however several objects the NID was working on stayed and one of them was the reason of this meeting. 

Carter put the unknown weapon on Hammond's table together with the results of the test she made. "Do you know what this is?"

"It seems to be an assault rifle Major Carter.", Teal'c stated the obvious with his typical stoic expression.

Jack took the weapon, studying it carefully, trying to remember if he ever came across that type of construction. He noticed a writing on the bottom of the gunstock - SteyrACR, followed by a combination of letters and digits, that could only represent a serial production number. There was another symbol on the weapon, this time only three letters: SWC. "I've never seen this design on an assault rifle." , Jack frowned. "You're telling me the NID is manufacturing their own guns?"

"I seriously doubt it sir." Carter disagreed. "NID agents used mostly the standard MP-5 and this rifle is too different from any other produced on Earth, though it uses same principles as some of our riffles. It has grain carbon steel flechettes, synthetic case, gas system to actuate the breech mechanism, very fast flight speed, flat trajectory, able to penetrate almost all body armor we use. Also the NID had only one and several magazines, which means they couldn't reproduce it."

"And because we all know the standard NID approach, it's clear they didn't ask if they could borrow it." Jack snorted. "Which means our NID friends probably made a great impression on an advanced civilization with technology similar to our own. It will be even worse, won't it?"

"We think this weapon belonged to a slayer.", Jacob's symbionte Selmak joined the discussion. "The emblem SWC on the gunstock supports this theory."

"Thought so.", Jack sighed, expecting this answer. "That would explain why they didn't hesitate to blow up that temple with our doubles inside. What do we know about them?"

"Few months ago started random attacks on numerous Goa'uld planets." Jacob informed the others. "Nothing major and in the beginning the System Lords though SGC was behind it, but these slayers take on even outposts that are heavily guarded and the Goa'uld are aware Tauri never risk the lives of many soldiers. The problem with our lack of information is simply caused by the fact that till now these warriors were always successful and only one Jaffa ever survived an attack, which means we have no idea how strong their army is or what technology they use, except the knowledge about the projectile weapons."

"But why do they attack the Goa'uld?" Jack wondered. "I mean why NOW, because the reason is quite clear. Why didn't we hear about them before?"

"Perhaps they found their stargate recently and realized how dangerous the System Lords are for their world." Daniel guessed. "If their level of technology resembles our own, then stargate is their only way to travel to other planets."

"There is another thing." Jacob got the attention of Hammond and SG-1. "The Jaffa who survived said his squad with sixty men was attacked by only ten warriors. The fight didn't last longer then five minutes and he was the only one who managed to escape. He described how a slayer threw a Jaffa more then twenty feet against a tree like it was a piece of paper. Even an Unas can't do that. The Jaffa fear the slayers, saying they are the souls of heretics who oppose all gods and can't be defeated."

"Great. Souls of heretics." Jack smirked."That's very useful. These guys are real and so are their weapons. The question is if they choose to be our allies or enemies. Do we have any idea where they come from?"

"We found an address in NID's reports attached to the description of the weapon. A MALP is being prepared as we speak." Hammond informed Jack, standing up, indicating to the others to follow him to the control room. "Seventh symbol set.", a voice echoed through the corridors as the stargate activated, creating a connection to Risol. "Send the MALP." Hammond ordered, waiting eagerly for the probe to reach the other end. As soon as the MALP exited the wormhole, the eyes of all in the control room turned to the screens, nervously studying the first images. 

Jack could recognize a large valley with mountains on the horizon, the surface covered with forests, a lake on the right side as the camera slowly turned to examine the complete surroundings. He couldn't see any industrial structures though. After the MALP finished the complete rotation, there was a major surprise waiting for all SGC members. The empty plane in front of the gate was suddenly full of soldiers armed with swords, axes and bows, aiming at the probe.

"This might be a good time for our 'We come in peace.' stereotype.", Jack observed the medieval looking troops. One of the soldiers armed with a large double-axe walked carefully towards the MALP, presumably trying to determine if it meant any threat for his friends.

"These warriors don't fit the description of slayers.", Teal'c noted. "Their weapons are obviously primitive, compared to the one NID found. Maybe the address was wrong."

"Why don't we just ask?", Daniel was even more enthused then usually to make the first contact with a new culture and switched on the audio module on the MALP. "We are not your enemies.", he tried to persuade the warrior. "We come from Tauri and we're friends of all nations that fight against the Goa'uld."

"You are Tauri?", Firon replied, his features hardening when he realized the device belonged to the people who murdered two slayers and ten of his men.

"Yes.", Daniel nodded. "Perhaps you will allow us to visit your world?"

Firon raised the huge axe above his head and in one killing blow he sliced through the upper half of the MALP, crushing all it's systems. With a victorious smirk he kept hitting the probe until there were only small pieces of shattered hardware left on the grass around him.

Jack watched Firon's reaction and the screens going black as the connection was cut off. Literally. "I guess that meant 'NO'."

----

Buffy woke up to find herself chained to a small metal seat inside of a transport ship and saw a Goa'uld study her combat outfit with interest. She was now dressed in simple brown linen clothes typical for the villagers from the planet where she had been captured. The Goa'uld had the same strange symbol on his forehead as the Jaffa who captured her and she also noticed several villagers in the ship with their hands tied behind their backs with two Jaffa guarding them. "You are not one of them." the Goa'uld stated, looking at the villagers. "And attacked my brave warriors. Who are you?" 

Buffy was thinking about how she should react, deciding that the best choice would be to use the typical Goa'uld arrogance. "Brave warriors? You needed twenty of them to catch me." Buffy smirked. "You and your leader are obviously just a bunch of amateurs."

"My Lord Anubis will make you pay for this insolence.", the Goa'uld hit Buffy with a glowing rod. She awaited a blow, but the pain caused by the device was far beyond what she expected. The effect resembled the Goa'uld hand weapon they often used to torture their victims and it made her feel like all molecules in her body started boiling. She summoned the rest of her strength and tried to get rid of the chains without success. 

"You will be tortured and you will tell me everything little girl.", the man stated and being a Goa'uld he was naturally absolutely sure about his success. 

I'll be tortured? I SO didn't see that coming. But thanks for the information about your leader, Buffy thought. Anubis. She couldn't remember Willow mentioning him. Perhaps he was one of the less powerful snakeheads who hoped to gain more influence. "Don't think you'll get something out of me with the ribbon device.", Buffy replied, trying to look confident and make the Goa'uld angry, but she saw it didn't have the desired effect. 

"Fortunately. I have another option." the Goa'uld took out a small silver orb with a number of spikes coming out of it's top. "This device will connect your memory with this ship. We'll soon know everything." The Goa'uld attached the orb to her skull and Buffy lost consciousness once more."

End Chapter

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	9. Lost part 2

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 8 - Lost - part 2 

The Goa'uld who captured Buffy was talking with a strange figure in dark cloak, using the ship's communication screen. A short glance would be enough to notice the respect and fear in the Goa'uld face when he answered the questions of his superior. 

"The orb didn't have the desired effect my Lord.", the Goa'uld informed his master, hoping he won't blame him for the lack of success. 

"What happened?" 

"We couldn't read anything from her memory and I think the experiment led to a complete memory loss even though she seems to be physically unharmed. We will continue the tests on her my Lord. She seems to posses unusual healing ability and strength." 

"That won't be necessary." Anubis disagreed."I think I already know what she is. Collect some more slaves and then bring her to the planet on the coordinates I sent you. I have another use for her." 

"As you wish my Lord.", the Goa'uld quickly finished the transmission, glad he didn't have to explain why the experiment was a failure. He read the planet coordinates Anubis sent him, entered the to the navigation computer and activated the ship's engines, his Pel'tac jumping to hyperspace to the ordered destination. 

Buffy woke up in the ship's cargo room, feeling like a truck run her over, except she couldn't call to remembrance what a truck was. She wasn't alone and one of the women approached her to learn about Buffy's condition. "Hi. I'm Elen. You've been there more than ten hours. What did the Goa'uld want from you?" 

"I have no idea. I don't know where I am or how I got here.", Buffy answered, desperately trying to recall how she had got to her current situation. Everything in her mind was fuzzy, hidden behind a barrier she wasn't able to cross. 

"You have to remember something. At least your name?" the woman asked, her face filled with plain-hearted concern for the new prisoner. 

"Joan." Buffy replied thoughtfully after a few seconds. "I think my name is Joan." 

**SGC, Tauri**

"He agreed?" Jack asked General Hammond a little surprised. He wanted to help the people on P2X 586, but the president usually didn't agree with large operations without a good reason.

"We are allowed to use any measures necessary. I reminded the president and the committee there are deposits of trinium on the planet."Hammond explained. He knew well how to persuade politicians like Kinsey and other Senators who were aware of the stargate. "SG-3,4,5,12 and 14 will be under your command as well.", he added.

"Thank you General." Jack nodded and headed to gateroom where the five teams and the rest of SG-1 were waiting for him."You all know what's going on from the briefing so I'll make it short. Our mission is to evacuate as many civilians as possible before Apophis will send the reinforcements. SG-12 and SG-14 will safeguard the gate while my team, SG-3 and SG-4 will help the people in the village. SG-5 is equipped with rocket launchers and mine-throwers and will take position on the hill south from stargate to give us cover in case Death Gliders will appear. Understood ?" Everybody nodded. "Then let's move people!"

After they reached the planet, the six SG teams separated as planned, Jack's group carefully walking towards the village to pick up the local tribesmen. However they soon broke into run when they spotted a wing of gliders descend from the skies, flying directly towards the gate. The twelve soldiers hurried to the arranged rendezvous, hoping the villagers had enough time to escape Apophis's troops. However when they came to the village it was already almost destroyed and it seemed the locals had been taken hostage. A platoon of about hundred Jaffa - two times more then expected - spotted the three SG teams and Jack's group had to go to defensive, taking cover in the remnants of the destroyed houses, trying to stop the advancing troops. 

Jack was firing his P-90, hidden behind a stone wall that used to be a wall of a small house, staff blasts exploding all around and realized that once again he got himself into a really crappy situation. The remnants of the village were surrounded by a lake from two sides, which gave his men an advantage, because the enemy could attack only from two directions, but it would also make a retreat much more difficult. These Jaffa obviously had some experience with fighting against Tauri, because they didn't use the mindless attacks over an open space typical for the Goa'uld assaults. They used every opportunity to take cover behind rocks or in ditches, giving each other cover when they advanced and concentrated their fire to destroy the walls SGC soldiers were hiding behind. The approaching Jaffa were already dangerously close when they found themselves under fire from mine-throwers, each grenade killing three or four of them.

'Thank god for support teams.' Jack thought, reloading his weapon and made a mental note to buy a drink for every member of SG-5 when this was over. The Jaffa started to retreat and Jack ordered SG-3 and SG-4 to follow them while his team would find the civilians.

They searched the near forest for about five minutes till they found them on a small grassy plain, not far away from the gate. Only three Jaffa were aiming their weapons at approximately twenty tribals, obviously preferring executing them to letting the Tauri rescue the prisoners. Jack, Sam and Teal'c each aimed at one of the soldiers and quickly killed them before they could harm anyone. Daniel approached the group and wanted to assure them they came to help when he saw another Jaffa hidden behind a tree aiming at one of the females.

"Get down!" Daniel shouted while running towards the woman. He managed to pull her to the ground just in time and the shot missed both of them. He aimed his pistol at the Jaffa and fired, killing him before he could shoot again.

Daniel regained his footing and held out his hand to help the woman stand up. She accepted it and nodded her thanks for his help. Daniel used the opportunity to examine her closer, making sure she wasn't injured. She seemed tired like she hadn't slept for days and also a little confused, which was understandable for someone who just escaped the Goa'uld slavery.

"You don't have to be afraid. We came here to help you and your people." Daniel gave her his best smile to assure her about his intentions. "What's your name?"

"Joan." the small blonde woman replied. "My name is Joan."

"Nice to meet you Joan. I'm Daniel and we came here to help people from your planet."

"Thanks but I'm not sure this is my planet. I was brought here three days ago with several others in a transport ship. Our captors wanted to take more slaves from a nearby village and after they did they wanted to bring us to the Chappa-Ai. However before we reached it other ships appeared and the Jaffa escaped to the transport ship and left us here. We went with the locals to their village, but we were captured again by the Jaffa you and your friends killed. That's all I remember." Buffy explained.

"The Tok'ra say Apophis's ships are under way." Jack informed his team, switching of his transmitter. "Danny. You can chat about the planet's culture or whatever you two have been talking about at the SGC. We have to leave this place and fast."

Daniel nodded and SG-1 accompanied by twenty civilians hurried to the gate. The other SG teams were already waiting for them with activated stargate and they disappeared in the wormhole just before Apophis's Death Gliders could stop them. 

----

"So what do you think?" Daniel asked doctor Fraiser, looking at the blonde woman at the other side of the infirmary who was now sitting on the one of the beds, dressed in khaki pants and black T-shirt that belonged to one of Fraiser's assistants, curiously observing the always busy live in the mountain. 

"I ran the CT scan and found nothing. She suffers from lack of food and sleep and dehydration, besides that she is perfectly healthy, which makes me think her memory loss has not physical, but psychological origin. She was almost killed and that can have various effects on human mind and behavior. I definitely recommend a lot of rest and maybe she will start remembering, but at first she has to eat something."

"I'll take care of that." Daniel nodded, thanked the doctor and walked to Buffy, taking her hand. "Joan? Dr. Fraiser said you have to eat something and I agree with her. The worst cases of anorexia have more fat then you."

"What's anorexia?" Buffy wondered, standing up and following Daniel through the SGC corridors towards the mess hall, nervously watching all the soldiers guarding the halls. These people helped her, but she didn't feel very safe anyway. The lack of memory caused she had no idea if she should consider them friends or enemies. She trusted Daniel though, because he saved her life, risking his own.

"Just a human illness. People who have it refuse to eat, but that's not important." Daniel explained when they entered the mess hall. He took a plate and a chose a chicken wings with potatoes and a cup of coffee.

Buffy studied the various types of available food, looking upset. Some of it seemed familiar to her, however she couldn't remember how it tasted so she just took chicken and potatoes as Daniel and went to sit next to him. "So what happens to me and the others now?" Buffy inquired, trying to figure out how to use her knife and fork to eat the chicken, scattering her food on the table in the process. "Sorry.", she apologized and decided to simply use her hands.

"It's ok." Daniel smiled, helping her to cut the chicken and return her potatoes back to the plate. "I assume you'll stay here on our planet in a city called Colorado Springs until everyone is healed and then we'll find a planet without Goa'uld where you could live." Daniel explained. "There are few worlds that accept the refugees we save."

"I can't stay here?", Buffy didn't understand why SGC would send them to another planet. She was a little disappointed she won't have a chance to see more of Daniel's home world. 

"Joan I'm not sure in what kind of society you lived before, but our planet is probably very different. It's hard for people from a less technologically advanced civilizations to accept the conditions and rules required for the life here. We abandoned most of the nature and our cities are miles away from lakes or forests, full of stress and often also open hostility to anything out of the stereotype. Believe me it's better this way. You wouldn't be happy here. The culture you come from is simply too..."

"Primitive?", Buffy looked down at her hands that were still dirty from her attempts to eat the chicken, a sad expression spreading over her face. The question wasn't an accusation, it was more like regret.

"I wanted to say pure.", Daniel took Buffy's hands into his own. "You definitely don't have to feel inferior for the fact you aren't used to eat with a fork. There is nothing primitive about it and you'd be surprised how I looked when I tried to eat WITHOUT a fork for the first time." Daniel recalled his life on Abydos. "Shauri had spent hours cleaning the sauce out of my shirt. She used to give me this look, like she was asking how can a man from so called advanced civilization be such a swab and I loved when she did it."

"You still do.", Buffy looked Daniel into the eyes, finding not only love for his wife, but also pain caused by her loss. "She's gone and you still love her. And you hate the one who took her away from you. That Goa'uld you mentioned when we were at the infirmary. What was his name? Asterix?"

"Apophis." Daniel corrected her."You're right. He is the only being I wouldn't hesitate to kill. He is the most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy and we don't know how to stop him. That's another reason why you should leave. Protected planet or not, he'll always be looking for a way to destroy us. Not mentioning the fact that we've got us a new and probably very powerful enemy recently."

"Really?" Buffy wondered. "Who are they? I mean if you are allowed to talk about it."

"There's not much to tell." Daniel admitted the SGC didn't know much about the possible adversary. "We just know that they look human, have strange powers, dress in black combat outfit, call themselves slayers and are extremely dangerous."

"Slayers." Buffy nodded without any sign of recognition in her voice. "I'll remember that."

End Chapter

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	10. Choices

Rating:G

Chapter-9-Choices 

**November 2004**

Dressed in her pyjamas, Buffy strolled through large halls that look like iron works at the first glance, with huge vats of molten metal, sparks flying through the air and people being used as slaves, controlled by guards with whips dressed in black and without skin on their heads. The workers were pounding the metal on anvils, pushing wheelbarrows and swinging sledgehammers. She saw a steel door split open, the upper half rising, the lower half sinking and a group of young slaves coming from it.

One of the slavers started talking."You work, and you live. That is all.You do not complain or laugh or do anything besides work. Whatever you thought, whatever you were does not matter. You are no one now. You mean nothing."

The guard walked to one of the boys."Who are you?"

"Aaron." the boy answered and the guard hit him with his club, causing the boy grunt in pain and fell to the floor unconscious. Then the guard approached another person."Who are you?"

"No one." the young woman replied, her head ducked.

The guard reached a third figure - a young blond girl with shoulder-length hair and asked her the same question."Who are you?"

The girl looked up at him for a moment, and then smiled." I'm ..."

Suddenly the scene ended in the middle of the girl's sentence like time had stopped in that moment. Buffy saw a young man with short brown spiky hair dressed in a long black coat coming towards her and smiling. "Hi Joan."

"Ok. As weird dreams go, this is the winner."Buffy reacted."Do we know each other?"

"It's your dream. Why don't you tell me? There is nothing here you don't already know including myself. Your subconscious chose me as your spirit guide." Angel explained.

Buffy was studying the man in front of her, clearly not convinced by his explanation. "Maybe we should wait until my subconscious becomes sober because I don't have a clue who you are."

"That's pretty much why I'm here. You have to remember what you fight for."

"Great. So tell me. I'm dying to find out." Buffy snorted.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Angel chuckled. "Or the second. However that's not why I'm here. I can't tell you about your life I can just show you. This for example..." Angel pointed at the stopped scene in front of them. "...is a moment when a young girl made an important choice.To stop running away from her problems, face her fears and fight them. Here is the beginning and the end of our tour."

The factory disappeared and Buffy now saw a dim lit room and a couple sitting on a bed with red sheets, hugging, their clothes completely soaked.

"I love you. I tried not to but I can't stop."

"Me to. Can't either."

"Joan maybe we shouldn't."

"Shhh. Just kiss me."

The scene freezes as the previous one."Another important choice." Angel stated Buffy, his features suddenly changing.

"A good one?"

"Well. That depends on the point of view." Angelus finished morphing into his game face and smirked."I personally found it great. Had a lot of fun the next few months. Of course it's not just about fun. I tried to be useful as well. I solved the problem with homeless people in several towns. When I was finished there wasn't a single living soul on the streets."

Buffy saw the deformed face and yellow eyes watching her and backed a few steps. "Who are you?"

"What Jo? You don't recognize your spiritus guideus?" Angelus laughed."I guess people overestimate the first time thing." He ran to Buffy who tried to escape and caught her. "No weapons, no friends, no hope." He lowered his head and sunk his fangs into her neck.

Buffy reacted on instinct. She grabbed his hair and yanked him away. Then she kicked him in his stomach and Angelus fell to the ground. However he managed to grab Buffy's leg during the fall, causing she lost her balance, tumbling backwards. He was the first to regain his footing and kicked her violently into her ribs when she tried to stand up. 

"You certainly used to do better then this.", Angelus grinned."What's wrong? You forgot to take your morning milk and cereals?" 

"What do you want?", Buffy managed to rasp out, gasping for breath. 

"The same as every one.", Angelus shrugged. "A lot of blood, a good kill, shag a chosen virgin every now and then, rule or destroy the world whatever will be easier. I already managed the first three. Well, you should know." 

Buffy assumed the kick broke two or three ribs, but ignored the pain in her chest and leaped up, hitting Angelus into his unprotected chin. Suddenly a sword appeared in her hand and she plunged it into his stomach, without thinking how she got her new weapon. 

Angel's face changed back to human as his lifeless body fell to the ground. Buffy watched the corpse, unsure what she was supposed to do, when the wound on his chest began to heal, the sword disappeared and Angel stood up again. "I'm sorry Joan."

"What the hell was that?" Buffy asked, still prepared to defend herself.

"I had to show you both sides. It's never just black and white. It took you some time after you've been chosen to realize that." Angel stood up again.

"Chosen?"

Angel waved his hand and the scene changed once more. This time Buffy saw an about forty years old man in a library."In every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires ,demons and the forces of darkness."

"Alone?" Buffy inquired looking worried. She certainly didn't enjoy the idea of fighting some creatures.

"Destined to be, but never was." Angel assured her.

A high school hallway appeared with many students walking in various directions. A dark haired boy approached two girls, obviously in a very good mood. "Will. Joan. I see a party coming up this evening! We'll share the preparations. I'll take care of the pizza part. You'll take care of the bikini part." 

"Xander!" Willow punched her friend in the arm, though she doubted it will have any effect on his dirty ideas. 

"OK." Xander raised his arms, pretending he was giving up. "If you say so then clothing will be optional."

"I suddenly feel an uncontrollable urge to slay someone." Buffy joined the discussion, turning to Willow for advice."Do you have a suggestion?"

"And this is me shutting up now." Xander finished his thoughts about the party."So what did you kill last night?"

The hallway transformed into a hospital room where Buffy saw herself hugging a younger brown haired girl. "Dawn. It doesn't matter where you came from, or how you got here. You are my sister. There's no way you could annoy me so much if you weren't."

The hospital room disappeared and was replaced by a crying and hugging couple in front of a burning factory. Buffy recognized the man as the one from the library."Do you want to get yourself killed ? You can't leave me! I can't do this alone."

"They always helped you." Angel showed her a graveyard with Xander, Giles and Willow fighting and killing a vampire.

"They are strong." Buffy noted. "Even without me."

"But they don't always make the best choices."

Buffy saw Willow and Waren in a forest. Waren's arms and legs were tied by vines to the nearby trees. "Bored now." Willow made a short movement with her hand and a bolt of magic ripped through Warren and in one fluid move tore the skin off his body.

"Willow what did you do?", Buffy recognized she was the one who asked that question and also the boy standing next to her, together with a blonde woman she hadn't seen yet.

"One down." Willow replied and set Waren's body on fire, leaving nothing but the ropes she used to bind him. Lightning started to flash around her arms and torso and she disappeared.

Buffy stared in shock at the scene in front of her."Why exactly are you showing this to me?"

"It's all about choices. That's the only thing I'm trying to explain to you." Angel answered and came closer to Buffy who noticed they were again in the factory where her dream started.

Buffy looked at Angel, wondering what will come next."Is this the part where you tell me all this has some kind of higher purpose? Because that would suck."

"No. But it's time for you to make a choice." Angel put his hand on Buffy's forehead and she closed her eyes. When Buffy opened her eyes again she was awake in her small flat in Colorado Springs which had been given to her by the SGC.

Buffy stood up ,went to her bathroom and looked into the mirror studying her own face which slowly gained a determined expression. "Joan. It's not important you don't remember who you are or where you come from. Important is what you do now. I can't hide in my bed, in my dreams from this world anymore. I want to be part of this fight ."

End Chapter.


	11. Behind the lines

Rating:PG-13 

Chapter 10 - Behind the lines

**November 2004, Colorado Springs**

"So how is my favorite patient?", Daniel dropped in the hospital room, holding a beautiful bouquet of red roses and a package of white chocolate.

"Ready to leave.", Buffy blurted out, not giving her doctor the chance to answer. She had to spend only two days a week in the clinic, which she considered 48 hours more then necessary. The SGC kept controlling the condition of all refugees though most of them healed during the first week after they escaped Apophis and Buffy hated hospitals. That was one of the few things she was sure about from her previous life.

"Could you please keep her from jumping out of the window or another hazardous attempt to escape until I return with the test results?", the doctor asked Daniel with a pleading expression, causing the archaeologist had to try very hard to maintain a straight face. Fortunately the doctor soon left so the muscles on his face got a chance to relax. 

"I'll do my best.", Daniel smiled, hearing Buffy chuckle. "Can't promise it will be enough though."

"Presents!", Buffy noticed Daniel's package. "And flowers?", she arched her eyebrow in confusion. "That's new."

"Actually the roses are from Teal'c.", Daniel explained, putting the bouquet into a vase and filling it with water. "Two days ago Jack informed him that every one in a hospital was supposed to get presents, for example flowers and because he's Teal'c, he took it very seriously so now each member of SGC who knows him and has been wounded since Teal'c joined our operation received a bunch of roses. I have no idea where he got so many of them."

"At least the base will have some decoration.", Buffy chuckled at the idea of all marines in SGC wielding an M-16 and a red rose. "Remind me to thank him. He didn't change his opinion about the training he promised me, did he?"

"Well. His eyebrow was abnormally high, even for Teal'c, when I told him you want to train and join Bra'tac and his Jaffa, but he agreed. Don't worry, Teal'c isn't the type of person who'd turn you down. You'll even have a great privilege to be called by your first name Joan, because you don't remember your surname. Maybe you noticed Teal'c calls even his best friends by surname or both names."

"It's confusing.", Buffy agreed. "I've noticed he calls your Commander Jack O'Neill, while Sam Carter calls him Sir and you don't bother with the ranks and say just Jack. Can't you guys agree on one way?"

"That's the advantage of not being in the military. They have to use ranks. I don't. And can you explain to me why exactly are you always so eager to leave the clinic?"

"I hate hospitals.", Buffy stated deliberately. "I'm sure one of the reasons is food. I mean have you ever tried to have a lunch here? Potatoes. Every single day.", Buffy made a tormented expression to emphasize her suffering. "If that's the typical food on this planet then I finally understand why you go offworld so often."

"So you succeeded in keeping her within this room.", Buffy's doctor returned with the test results. However his expression was serious and Buffy knew what it meant. "Joan I'm afraid I don't have good news for you. The pictures show no change in your brain activity during the three weeks since you came here. No improvement. It seems whatever damage was done, it's probably permanent. I'm sorry."

Buffy felt suddenly weaker, trembling at the thought she'd never find out who she once was. Daniel wanted to hug her, but her raised arm stopped him. "Nothing at all?", she asked the doctor as a tear escaped the imprisonment of her eye, running down the face that was full of hope and expectation only a minute before.

"There's still a chance your memory loss is psychological origin Joan.", the doctor tried to comfort her. "I know a specialist who might be able to help you. His mane is Dr.Ronald Morganson. He used to work in SGC as Fraiser's assistant and he still cooperates with us very often, even though he left the military. I've already sent to him several refugees who had problems integrating into another society. His office is in St.Paul and I'd like you to visit him. I'm going to send him your file if you agree."

"Sure. And thank you.", Buffy accepted a call card with Morganson's phone number and address. "Can I leave now?"

"Of course.", her doctor nodded and Buffy left the room, with Daniel on her heels. Buffy didn't want to waste more time in the hospital an rushed directly to the main entrance. "Will you take me to SGC?", she asked Daniel when they reached his car, looking impatiently at her watch. "Teal'c is already waiting for me."

"Sure.", Daniel nodded. He wanted to ask if Joan will visit the doctor in St.Paul, but it seemed she wasn't ready to talk about it so he just started the engine and left the hospital's parking lot in silence.

Buffy watched the busy streets they were passing during the way to the base, her mind fixed on what the doctor told her. Go and see a psychiatrist! He could directly say: you're crazy, we better lock you up in a madhouse. The fact I've lost my memory doesn't make me stupid, does it?

"Of course not.", Daniel chuckled, watching Joan quickly cover her mouth. She obviously didn't realize she said the last sentences aloud before his reaction. "And many people visit a psychiatrist, even though they're perfectly sane Joan. Sometimes simple talking helps you to realize a problem you had no idea even existed."

"I know my problem, it's the solution I can't find.", Buffy replied. "You think this guy could help me?"

"It's worth trying.", Daniel brought the car to a stop, showing his and Buffy's identification to the gatekeeper and then drove to his reserved place close to the entrance to the mountain. After another two ID checks they descended to the 15'th floor, where the training area was situated. "I have a meeting with Jack.", Daniel excused himself. "Don't let Teal'c make Fraiser busy."

"I'll do my best to keep all my bones in one.", Buffy laughed. After she changed into a sports bra, a blue track suit and gym shoes, she entered the training room, catching sight of Teal'c sitting on a mat, his legs crossed and eyes closed, one wooden staff weapon next to each of his arms. "Welcome Joan.", he greeted her. "Daniel Jackson told me you want to learn how to fight as a Jaffa. I have to warn you that the art of mastering a staff weapon is very difficult even for a strong man who doesn't carry a symbiont, but I appreciate your will to join our fight against the false gods and I'll be honored to teach you."

"Thank you.", Buffy smiled and accepted one of the wooden staffs. "And thanks for the flowers."

"You're welcome.", Teal'c slightly bowed his head. "Now take the weapon with both hands. I assume you're right-hander so you'll use your right hand as support for the staff and hold it from the bottom in about one third of the length. You'll grip the weapon with your left hand from above, just next to the trigger, so you could push down the trigger with your thumb. Now your hands divided the staff into three parts with same length and the front is as heavy as the bottom, which allows you the best efficiency to move and aim. Now we can try the basic fighting stance. It's displayed on the poster to your left."

Buffy turned to look at the image, but she couldn't see any poster on the wall. Before she realized her mistake Teal'c used his staff to trip up her legs and she fell back to the ground, losing her weapon in the process. "Hey!", Buffy wanted to stand up, but the front of Teal'c staff was now right above her nose. "That wasn't fair big guy."

"Correct.", Teal'c nodded, his eyebrow arched as usual and anyone who knew him long enough would recognize he was amused. "Never stop watching your enemy. Never lose your weapon.", he added, offering his hand to help Buffy regain her footing.

"Let's try again.", Buffy suggested, but Teal'c refused. "The point was you didn't expect my attack. Repeating it now would be useless. We'll try the basic fighting stance now. It's very simple. Your right leg is in the front, the knees slightly bend. Place the upper half of your right arm to your torso, then the weapon will be easier to wield, the forearm is horizontal and has to be turned approximately 70 degrees compared to the staff. Your left hand should be close to your body as well, because it gives you better control and finesse."

"What about shooting?", Buffy wondered. "Will you lend me a real staff?"

"Later.", Teal'c agreed. "At first you have to learn with this one. When you shoot at close distance you can use the basic fighting stance, however at longer distances it's difficult and only a very skilled warrior can hit the target from this stance. Can you close each of your eyes separately?"

"Only the left one.", Buffy admitted after several attempts to close her right eye and keep the left open.

"Then you'll have to change the hold for a better aim and use the left hand as support when you fire at longer distances. Place the staff into the height of you shoulders, rest your head on the middle, and put your right forearm alongside the weapon so that the your fingers, right eye and the barrel build a line. The upper half of your left arm shouldn't be to far from your torso, because it's easier to keep the weapon steady in this position."

"Cool.", Buffy tried aiming at various objects in the gym. "Can't wait to try blasting away a Jaffa with it. I meant of course an enemy Jaffa.", she added when she noticed the upward movement of Teal'c eyebrow. "What's next?"

"Standard attack. It has four steps and starts in the basic fighting stance I already showed you. First part is a horizontal blow where you move simultaneously forward your left leg and arm, hitting the enemy with the bottom part of your staff." Teal'c advised her and Buffy repeated his actions. "Second move is attack from above, this time you rotate the staff vertically, advancing with your right leg and arm. Now your left forearm is between your chest and stomach, while your right is alongside the staff. The other half of the four is almost the same, only this time you have the staff on your right side. So as third comes horizontal attack with moving your left forward and then vertical with your right. If you do it correctly, you end in the same position you were before the complete attack. Of course you can try the same movements backwards as well."

"You learn very fast Joan.", Teal'c noted when he noticed Buffy followed his instructions without any problems.

"It's fun.", Buffy smiled at the compliment. "Who knows, maybe I used to handle a staff before. Let's try something more complicated..."

**Next Day, St.Paul**

Buffy left the taxi that brought her to the skyscraper in St.Paul where Dr.Morganson's office was situated, once inside she asked the reception clerk where she could find the renown psychologist and headed to the given direction. She wished Daniel or Teal'c could accompany her, yet SG-1 was leaving to a PX-something the very same day and Daniel could only escort her to the airport. The doctor's assistant welcomed her with a comforting smile that made Buffy feel a little more safe though she still had doubts the therapy could help her.

"Joan, welcome to St.Paul.", a man in his late forties greeted her, shaking her hand, giving her a sincere smile. Buffy fetched a sight of relief when she studied his appearance which was the exact opposite of what she expected. He seemed to be a friendly and honest person who really cared for his patients and wasn't interested just in transferring as much as possible from their bank accounts to his own. 

"Please sit down. My assistant can make you a tea if you want.", Morganson offered. "I hope you didn't have problems during the trip, considering you come from ... abroad.", he quickly added when he realized his secretary might hear him.

"The trip was actually quite fascinating.", Buffy smiled, remembering her first flight and the drive trough the city. "I've never seen so many people and such buildings in my whole life. At least I think I haven't."

"Well that's what I'm here for, isn't it?", the doctor closed the door leading to his office, accepting a cup of tea from his secretary and locked it to make sure she couldn't overhear the conversation. "Can you tell me the last image or feeling you remember from your life before SG-1 saved you?"

"Nothing at all.", Buffy admitted. "I'm not even sure Joan is my real name. I had a strange dream though where a man wanted to explain me why I don't remember. It was weird, only my imagination I guess, considering that what I saw is impossible. Creatures. Monsters. The guy was even talking about a place called the Hellmouth."

"Interesting.", the doctor nodded thoughtfully, making a few notes. "However seeing creatures in our dreams is common. They're metaphors and often represent fear from our real life, from the people we're afraid of, in spite of the fact we don't realize or aren't ready to accept we fear them. Tell me more about the man talking with you."

"He seemed familiar.", Buffy took a sip of the chamomile tea, recalling Angel in her dream. "Handsome in the 'makes all my skin tingle' kind of way, at least until his face changed, then he got really mean and what he said was evil. Does it help?"

"Maybe.", Morganson replied, taking a small golden watch out of his pocket. "Joan I think your subconscious might be blocking your memories, because of some stressing event in your past. I'd like to try hypnotherapy which can reveal the problem. You don't have to worry, this method is used often and proves to be really helpful." 

"Ok.", Buffy shrugged, "What do I have to do?"

"Just relax and concentrate on this watch.", he advised her and Buffy leaned back in the armchair. "All you can see is the watch I'm holding.", Buffy heard him whisper and focused on small object dangling in front of her eyes, feeling suddenly tired. "Your legs and arms are getting heavier, you can't keep your eyelids open anymore." Buffy obeyed and slowly closed her eyes, dozing off.

"Finally. I wondered how long I'll have to carry on this crap.", Morganson watched Buffy fall asleep and after he was absolutely sure the drug in her tea worked, he took out his cell phone and dialed. "Morganson. Yes, she is here. She has no idea.", he answered the questions of his superior. "I understand. We'll take her to the labs."

Two men entered the office and even though they wore civilian clothes, a good observer would immediately recognize they belonged to the military from the way they moved and behaved. Without a single word they picked Buffy up and carried her away to a van prepared near the rear entrance into the skyscraper.

Doctor Morganson sat down behind his desk, deciding he could finish some paper work before Buffy will be brought back. He wasn't sure how long the procedure would take this time, but it lasted always at least several hours with the other refugees. He called his assistant to cancel the rest of his meetings for that day and waited.

After exactly five hours the same men who kidnapped Buffy brought her back and laid her on the same armchair where she fell asleep. The men left the office in silence, it wasn't necessary to tell Morganson what he was supposed to do, because Buffy was already the fifth subject they used and for the doctor it already became a routine. He knew the drug would ware off in few minutes and prepared to give the same explanation he used with the previous refugees.

Buffy slowly opened her eyes, sitting up, remembering where exactly she was. "This hypno stuff is really cool. I can't recall ever dozing off so fast."

"The method is very effective.", Morganson smiled, "However I'm afraid I ..." 

"Can't help you.", Buffy interrupted him with sadness in her eyes. She didn't really expect Morganson will be able to make her remember, but part of her still hoped and now the last possibility was gone. "Thanks for trying though." 

"I'm really sorry.", he pretended to care about the blonde woman who put so much trust into his treatment. If she had known what really happened in the last five hours, her behavior would probably make him run for his life.

Buffy said good bye to the psychologist and quickly left the skyscraper, fighting back tears, slowly strolling alone through the street colored by the neon lights of local pubs and crushbars, thinking. After a while when she looked around, watching the busy night life in the city her expression changed. She smiled. Her past was definitely gone, but why was she so worried about it? Whatever she used to be, it could hardly beat the life she had now. She had friends and a chance to start anew and do anything she wanted. 

A/N I hoped this filled some gaps in the story and helped the plot. Please review.


	12. Reason

BtVS/Stargate Crossover

Rating:PG-13

Timeline:Set after season 7 for Buffy, but season 7 of Buffy happened at the same time as season 2 of Stargate. I'm going to use BtVS timeline so for example May 2004 means the end of season 3 of Stargate.I hope it will not be too confusing.

Chapter 11 - Reason

**December 2004, Earth(Tauri)**

John slowly walked towards his new house in Denver. He didn't hurry and observed the people on the street. It seemed that all of them had someone to run to, talk to or just spend time with. He didn't have anyone. Not since the damned Asguard Loki cloned him and put him into this 17 years old body. Now he was John O'Neill, nephew of his former self and the only people who knew that were General Hammond and SG-1. It the beginning he found it cool to have a new life and the possibility to do anything he wanted but he soon realized the thing he wanted the most was the one he'll never have again. His friends, his team and the fight against the Goa'uld. His life. It wasn't his anymore , now he was a student in one of the high schools in Denver living in a small house the SGC bought him. No matter what Carter and Daniel thought about his knowledges John didn't have problems in any subjects even math and physics because what he had to learn wasn't exactly on the same level as Carter's wormhole theories. The most time he was bored during the classes. Even more than the other students which in the beginning he thought was almost impossible. It's not like he could stand up during the lessons about the Gulf War and walk away saying 'Been there. Done that.'

John entered his house and checked the post. Bills. What else would be there? The SG-1 didn't bother to write and he didn't have any close friends. He threw the bills away and went to his fridge to get some food. He took out one old Pizza and examined it's state of decomposition to find out if the consummation was life threatening. John decided he had eaten worse and put the Pizza into his microwave to prepare it.

Twenty-five minutes later John finished his Pizza and took a beer from the fridge. Because he was only 17 he couldn't buy it himself but John had made a deal with one of his older neighbors. He paid the double price for the beer and the neighbor bought it for him. John didn't mind spending the money because he got enough from the SGC to afford it. John started to drink suddenly feeling tired like he hadn't slept for days. He fell on the sofa dropping the beer bottle and losing consciousness.

Two figures dressed in dark blue outfit entered John's house and examined his motionless body.Then one of them took out a cell phone."Inform senator Kinsley we have him."

**Meanwhile, planet Verona**

Xander looked at the construction site with satisfaction written on his face. In the last three months his crew managed to build here a small naquadah mine. There was a large deposit of naquadah on an asteroid near Antara but because mining on it was problematic they decided to build this mine.Xander sighed. Buffy would be proud.

The Veronians agreed when Willow promised to help them with developing their own industry. Verona was an agricultural society that resembled the 17'th century Earth and their leaders requested help with creating machinery based on steam-power. No wonder Willow agreed. Verona's naquadah deposits were so huge that Xander's crew could mine here for decades. He had spent the last month on this planet and wondered about the situation on Antara. He wasn't much worried about Earth. He heard that Rona's slayers were cooperating with Dead Boy who was now in charge of L.A.'s branch of Wolfram&Hart and kicking some serious demon ass all over the world.

The situation of the second part of SWC was much different. After they had lost Buffy they tried everything possible to find her from Goa'uld sensors to Willow's locator spells and telepathy without any success. They knew Buffy was still alive because Willow could feel her presence through the Scythe but she couldn't tell where Buffy was. The villagers on the planet where Buffy disappeared had told them several of their people hadn't come back from the fields the same day which meant Buffy had been probably kidnapped by a Goa'uld. Willow had thought it had been Apophis who had taken her and she had gone with Faith and Dawn to his capital world to find her but the locator spell had shown them Buffy hadn't been on Apophis's planet. There are hundreds of Goa'uld worlds and they simply couldn't search all of them. Xander was glad he hadn't been the one to tell Giles about Buffy because he wasn't sure he could stand so many Dear Lords and Bloody Hells the Ripper had thrown at Faith and Willow. They all missed Buffy but Giles and Dawn had had the biggest problems to deal with the uncertainty of her fate. The first week Dawn had refused to leave her room and her brooding skills had reached a level where she could give Dead Boy a run for his money. Xander had realized she needed a change - to be where everything would remind her of Buffy would just make her feel worse. That's why he had offered Dawn to come with him to Verona to study their culture and arts. He had hoped it would force Dawn to focus on her work. In the beginning it hadn't worked and Dawn had spent the most time in her room just looking out of the window. It took her another two weeks before she actually started to be interested in Verona's history. Xander smiled. He knew the most important reason for the change in Dawn's behavior wasn't his help but a student named Kalim who studied history on the biggest (and only) Veronian university. Of course Dawn tried to persuade him the relationship with Kalim was just a friendship but Xander knew she had a crush and was glad about it. From his point of view the important thing was Dawn now felt better.

Meanwhile Willow had spent the last months trying to develop modifications of Goa'uld technology. She didn't have much luck but after a few failures she finally created the ASW (Advanced Staff Weapon ) prototype . After several skirmishes with Jaffa Buffy had come to a conclusion that staff weapon is unsatisfactory and had asked Willow if she could come up with something that would fire faster and be ... well ... shorter. The main obstacle had been that the staff isn't so long just to make it more fancy or more suitable for hand-to-hand combat. The interior of the middle part is a linear accelerator for the energy stream coming from the power source situated in the bottom end . If Willow had made it half shorter it's power would drop to 50 percent.The solution had been simple. Willow had used more (twelve) power sources to compensate the weaker acceleration. She had also added a zat gun power source, telescope, two-wave-lenght laser targeting (first laser was at 500 nm, the other was at 1300 nm and invisible to a human eye) ,infra and ultra vision connected to a LCD display. The weapon had three modes. In the first one it fired in rotation from each power source, the second fired from all sources at once and the shot was therefore six times stronger than the original staff weapon. The third mode worked as a zat gun. Willow also tried to create a Chappa-Ai memory buffer control program. Everything coming through the wormhole was always written into the Chappa-Ai memory before it's actual materialization. This fact would theoretically enable to write a program that would read and filter the objects in incoming wormholes and got rid of anything undesirable. The program didn't work yet but Willow said it's just a matter of time.

Xander turned his attention back to present. His work was finished for that day and he started walking towards the house he now lived in. It belonged to Tarun who was the most avowed architect on Verona. Tarun was fascinated by various Earth's architecture and Xander enjoyed describing the carpentry and construction methods. In return Tarun had told Xander about Verona's history. The Veronians had been brought to this planet 1500 years ago by the Goa'uld Anubis. About six hundred years ago Anubis had stopped visiting the planet but other Goa'uld had started occasionally coming to Verona for slaves. That's why 550 years ago the Veronians had decided to abandon their villages near the Chappa-Ai and destroyed all evidence of the existence of their civilization. The only thing left was an old abandoned Goa'uld naquadah mine. They had built ships to travel across the ocean to the second continent hoping the Goa'uld would think their civilization had been destroyed. The plan worked and the Goa'uld hadn't visited them ever since.

Xander entered Tarun's house and greeted his host. "Hi Tarun. Do you know where Dawn is ?"

"I think she went to the Three Oaks with Kalim."

Xander smiled and wondered what would Buffy do if she knew that Dawnie is spending her free time in a tavern. She would probably ground Dawn until the next ice age.

"I think they are celebrating." Tarun added.

"Oh. What's the reason this time? The neighbor's cat has kittens, there are no clouds, the fertility of onions is one percent higher than last year?" 

"I think it's just the typical 'This day ends with a dusk' reason."

Xander laughed but his laugh stopped when he realized what Dawn's spending time with a guy in her age could lead to. God he hoped Buffy and Dawn had the 'Stork doesn't bring the kids.' talk.

----

"I find that very strange Dawn." Kalim shook his head, his brown hair falling into his oval face. They were sitting by one of the ten wooden tables in the Three Oaks tavern drinking the blue wine which was a well known speciality. Dawn just finished her second drink and was already starting to feel the effect of alcohol but chose to ignore it and ordered another glass.

Dawn had to laugh when she saw Kalim's confused face. She had tried to explain to him the concept of computer games and obviously failed miserably. "You just have to give it a try. I'll lend you my laptop tomorrow and we'll try something simple like golf or fishing."

"That's another part I don't understand. Why would I play something that simulates for example shooting arrows when I can go outside and do it myself."

"You can here but try it in L.A. and you'll promptly find yourself in a mental institution, or jail or possibly a film agency."

"What's L.A.?" Kalim wondered.

"That's not important. The point is in computer games you are allowed to do things you can't in the real live. The fishing and shooting arrows weren't exactly the best examples." Dawn admitted.

"Oh. So you kill people in these games because you can't do that in real life. But you would like to?"

"No! It's just a way of spending time. Like sitting in a tavern and drinking with your friends." Dawn finished her drink suddenly feeling dizzy."That was the third one right? I think I should go back as long as I can walk and tell the difference between a bee and an Alkesh. He he get it? Bee and Alkesh? "

"Yeah. Let's finish the discussion about your computer obsession tomorrow." Kalim nodded seeing Dawn's condition.

"Hey! I'm not obsessed. I'm just..." Dawn tried to walk to the tavern's exit and tumbled over a chair.

Kalim barely managed to catch Dawn before she would fall to the ground."Drunk. I've noticed. Come on. I'll take you home."

"Taxi!" Dawn shouted as soon as they left the wooden building."Taxi!" She turned to Kalim. "Can you get me a Taxi?"

"I'm not familiar with that kind of drink and I think you had enough for one night." Kalim supported Dawn with his hand and started walking towards Tarun's house. When they came to the gate Kalim saw Xander and Vi waiting for them. "Uhm. Hi. Dawn's a little ... "

"I can see that only I would leave out that 'little'. " Xander snorted.

"I will take her." Vi said ,took Dawn in her arms and carried her to her bedroom.

Xander turned his attention to Kalim with an angry expression. "Let's have a chat."

----

Dawn woke up feeling a major hangover coming up, her body protesting against any kind of movement, demanding at least another ten hours of undisturbed sleep. The last think she could remember was her talking to Kalim about computer games.

Dawn's POV

Shit. What happened after we left the tavern ? We didn't...Did we? OK Dawn calm down and think this over.

Look around. Where are you ?

On a bed.

Is it your bed ?

It is.

Is there someone else in the bed with you?

No.

Do you hear someone else in this room or in the bathroom?

No.

You should go check the bathroom anyway.

I stand up and go to the bathroom. It's empty.

Do you see any clothes that don't belong to you?

No.

Good. The probability of you still being a virgin just increased to ninety five percent . What are you wearing?

My night gown.

Do you remember taking off your dress and putting on the night gown?

No.

The above mentioned probability have just seriously decreased.

Shit!

End Dawn's POV

Dawn got dressed and rushed to the ground floor to find Xander sitting near the fireplace and reading some book about tools.

"Good Morning Dawn. Feeling well?" Xander smiled. The previous day he talked to Kalim after Vi had left with Dawn and act all 'Big Brother'. It was fun but this is going to be MUCH better.

"You know uhm ... about last night..."

"Yes?" he smiled trying to look innocent.

"Well ... do you know if I ... when I ... came home ?"

"I'm not sure. I guess around eleven. With Kalim."

"And Kalim ... left afterwards?"

"Yeah."

Dawn fetched a sight of relief. Maybe she overreacted and the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed.

"After about three hours." Xander added, pretending to continue reading, but was almost unable to control his desire to laugh.

"What? And you just let him be there?" Dawn shook her head, angry about Xander's lack of interest in her ... whatever happened the previous night.

"Well. It looked like you two didn't want to be disturbed."

"Right." Dawn's face got an cold expression."My bad to think you care."

Xander realized he had gone too far. He stood up and hugged Dawn."Of course I care about you. Kalim..."

"Left and I took you to your bedroom." finished Vi as she entered the room.

"You are spoiling my fun." Xander complained.

"You are so DEAD." Dawn threatened Xander who was now looking at the carpet suddenly finding it incredibly fascinating . "And why is Vi here?"

"We had a visit yesterday afternoon. The Chappa-Ai on the first continent activated." Vi informed them.

"Goa'uld?"

"Tauri." Vi shook her head."At least we think it was them. The group fit the description. They took some soil samples, then used some kind of small jet to scout the surroundings and left. Faith sent me with three Alkesh and forty slayers in case they would make any troubles. Interesting thing not all of them left to Tauri. The address was different.

"Maybe they have a colony on another planet?" Dawn suggested when Vi's transmitter started to blink.

"We have company." Vi announced. "Four Tauri just left the wormhole. Our Alkesh are waiting in the orbit and monitoring the situation. We should join them."

Xander nodded and the three of them left to the mine's control room where ring transport was installed. Vi's Alkesh took the air, cloaked and flew towards the first continent to find out what the Tauri are doing. In seventy seconds they reached the orbit above the stargate.

"So where are they ?" Xander frowned.

"You missed them. They entered the gate fifty seconds ago." Kennedy informed him. "They installed some kind of energy source and a probe near the gate and left."

"My God." Dawn looked at the sensor readings. "That's not just an energy source. It's a naquadah bomb!"

"What? I guess the Veronians are lucky they live on the other side of the planet." Xander remarked.

"You don't get it! There are naquadah deposits under the surface all over the planet. The explosion will..."

Dawn never finished the sentence. She didn't have to. The bomb detonated and a chain reaction of explosions swallowed the whole planet.

End Chapter

A/N:This chapter is based on Stargate's episode 4-15 Chain Reaction. In this episode General Hammond is replaced by General Bauer who orders to send a naquadah bomb to a planet with a lot of naquadah deposits without scouting out more then 50 miles around the stargate. The explosion of the bomb creates a chain reaction that destroys the whole planet.

Please review.


	13. Countdown

Rating:PG-13 

Chapter 12 - Countdown

**December 2004, Verona**

Dawn watched as the detonations of naquadah spread to all directions from the stargate and ran to the ship's communication panel."Activate the shield!"

"What's going on?" asked the technician who was currently on duty in the mine's control room.

"Don't ask and do it!" Dawn yelled.

The man did what he was told and a golden Goa'uld shield established around the Veronian city.

"Will it hold?" Xander wanted to know.

"I have no idea." Dawn answered. "It's the same type of shield Gulnar installed on Antara to protect his bases. We just copied it and never tested how much it can withstand. Another problem is the shield reaches only hundred meters under the surface. Let's hope it's enough. The most naquadah is on the first continent so the effect shouldn't be so strong near the city but the villages are not under the shield and the people in there have no chance to survive the radiation. Fortunatelly most Veronians are in the city because of the Autumn Festival." Dawn stopped her estimations when she realized that Kalim went to visit his parents that morning.

Xander realized the same thing and hug Dawn."I'm sorry. I know he is in one of the villages."

"The energy wave is reaching the shield now." Vi informed the others. "Sixty percent energy loss but the shield is intact and the sensors show only a slight increase of radiation inside the covered area."

Everybody fetched a sight of relief but their feelings soon changed to anger when they realized that over three hundred people in the villages were dead. "We have to get the Veronians away from the planet as soon as possible. We don't know how long the shield will hold." Vi informed the others.

"Let's use the rings to transport them to the ships." Kennedy suggested.

"We can't." Dawn shook her head. "It would take hundreds of transports and the shield would have to deactivate every time. Even though it would be turned off only for several microseconds the time would be enough to let a deadly dose of radiation inside. We need another solution."

"OK." Kennedy nodded. "You'll try whatever is necessary to save the Veronians while we will take care of the other thing."

"The other thing?" Xander asked.

"Tauri."

**January 2005, Colorado Springs, SGC, Earth (Tauri), follows the prologue**

Jack was the first one to wake up in the conference room and looked around. The last thing he remembered was the Iris blowing up. He couldn't see any signs of their attackers so he tried to stand up but he realized he was tied to a chair with his arms behind his back. The other members of his team and General Hammond were tied next to him but other then that everything looked perfectly normal. No burning fires or damaged equipment. Jack wondered why the attackers left the base and didn't kill the personnel.

Computer voice: Three minutes to the auto-destruction of the base. You have three minutes to cancel the countdown.

'That's why'. Jack realized and strained his muscles to get rid of the ropes without success."Carter! Teal'c! Daniel !" He yelled at his team .

Carter and Teal'c seemed to be slowly regaining consciousness and Sam turned to her CO. "What happened Sir?"

"We have a little problem." Jack explained turning his head towards the computer.

Sam saw the time on one of the screens."We need two officers to cancel the countdown but these computers don't have a voice recognition module so we have to enter our codes manually." Carter informed the others.

"Which means we have to get out of these chairs." Jack added and tried to break the ropes once more. "Teal'c! Are you and junior strong enough to get rid of the rope?"

Teal'c closed his eyes and concentrated. He yank on the rope but it stayed intact. " I'm afraid I'm unable to free myself O'Neill."

Computer voice: Two minutes to the auto-destruction of the base. People from your planet are responsible for the death of two our soldiers. Their names were Lin and Tsu. You killed them to acquire technology you have no right to possess. You have two minutes to cancel the countdown.

Various pictures of two dead women started to appear on the computer screens as well as pictures of bullets they were killed with. Jack immediately recognized the ammunition for MP5.

Jack tried to jerk himself so he could move the chair towards the table and he managed to get to it but his hands were to low to reach the keyboard. Daniel and General Hammond woke up and started trying to free themselves.

Teal'c yank on the rope once more. The rope didn't break however the chair proved weaker then expected and it's back cracked. Teal'c stood up and backed to a drawer where he knew was a knife. He picked it up ,used it to cut the rope and ran to free the others.

After Teal'c helped them General Hammond and Carter rushed to the controls to enter their codes. They both wrote them and expected the countdown to end but nothing happened.

"They must have changed the codes Sir." Carter informed the General. "And the system is not responding to my commands. I can try something but it will take time which we don't have."

Computer voice: One minute to the auto-destruction of the base. Your people are responsible for the death of three hundred and twenty-one people on the planet Verona. The bomb you sent there ruined the most of the surface on the planet and almost destroyed the whole civilization. You have one minute to ... No. You don't have a chance to stop it. You don't even deserve the chance.

Pictures of Lin and Tsu disappeared and were replaced by photos from Verona before and after the explosion.

"Jack, Teal'c and Daniel go to the bomb and try to disable it manually." Hammond ordered. "Major? Will you be able to cancel the countdown?"

Carter was desperately entering one override code after another. "I'm afraid no Sir. Whoever modified our programs knew exactly what he was doing."

Hammond looked at the pictures on their screens. Destroyed villages, burning forests and fields. 'You don't even deserve the chance.' echoed in his mind. More then three hundred people.'If there is a God he definitely isn't on our side now.'

Jack, Teal'c and Daniel ran towards the room where the bomb was situated meeting a lot of unconscious soldiers who were tied up more or less the same way as SG-1 used to be two minutes ago. They would take care of their injuries later, now they had to stop the auto-destruction. Jack was the first to reach the door and stopped two meters in front of it, staring at it. His face reflected his feelings when he realized it was over. They had no chance to pass the massive steel door because it was melted together with the casing.

Computer voice: Four.

"We can't get to the bomb!" Jack yelled into his transmitter.

Computer voice: Three.

Carter tried another code without success.

Computer voice: Two.

General Hammond looked at the pictures again. 'You don't even deserve the chance.'

Computer voice: One.

Everybody held their breath expecting a fast death. The computer finished the countdown but nothing followed. After a few seconds Carter opened her eyes and looked at the computer.

"Major? What happened?" Hammond asked surprised he was still alive.

"I don't know Sir. The system is restarting. It's the standard boot sequence and all parameters seem to be normal." Carter frowned studying the screen.

"Carter!" Jack ran to the control room and hug her. "That's what I call good timing!"

"Uh. Thanks Sir but that wasn't me. I didn't do that and I'm not sure what saved us but it seems the detonation was programmed to stop."

"Programmed to stop?" Jack wondered. "Then what was this all about?"

General Hammond went to the window that separated the control room from the gateroom looking at the stargate and nodded. "I got the message."

End Chapter. 

Review Please.


	14. Search

Rating:PG-13 

Chapter 13 - Search

**January 2005, Colorado Springs, SGC, Tauri**

"We are receiving an IDC. It's SG-4."the Lieutenant in control room informed the members of SG-1 and Hammond. "They report finding the complete crew of the Alpha Site tied up near the stargate. Most of them have only minor injuries and will be ready to return to Earth in several minutes."

"And the Alpha Site?" Hammond asked.

"Completely destroyed Sir. There is nothing left. SG-4 thinks it looks like the complex was bombed from an Alkesh."

"Inform the medical teams to be prepared." Hammond ordered. "Major do we at least know how these slayers could pass the Iris?"

"I think I know how it happened." Sam nodded. "Do you remember Sokar trying to melt the Iris? Slayers did the exact opposite. From the measurement our sensors made before the Iris cracked, it's temperature seriously decreased in the few seconds after the gate activated."

"And that's bad because?" Jack wondered.

"Every material even titanium loses structural integrity when it's temperature gets close to zero Kelvin and metal also decreases it's size with temperature. The Iris simply couldn't withstand these conditions and I'm afraid we have no means to stop the slayers from repeating it. "

"I don't think they will attack us again." Teal'c stated. "They could have killed us but they didn't, probably because they found out people currently occupying SGC are not responsible. That shows a behavior based on honor. They won't attack us unless we give them a reason to."

"So all we're going to do is sit down and hope the slayers won't come to the conclusion that leaving us alive wasn't such a good idea?" Jack asked.

"The president is discussing this matter with other members of our government who know about stargate program as we speak." Hammond responded ."You know the politicians Jack. It usually takes days or even weeks before they agree on something. However I think the president doesn't wish further conflicts. The Tok'ra are sending a ship to Verona to prove slayer's accusations and if what they uploaded to our computers is true then we'll have to face the consequences."

"General I think that's what we're already doing. Bauer and NID messed up and we'll be the ones to pay for it. And Carter." Jack turned to Sam." Do we really have to waste time with transferring all those computers?"

"Sir, even though it seems they didn't leave here anything else except the informations about the two dead slayers and Verona, we can't be sure they didn't modify our programs. It's possible they installed a virus or a monitoring program into our system. All records about their visit were deleted and overwritten several times with random data and they breached our security protocols in a matter of seconds which means they are probably a very advanced race and the only way to be sure... "

"...is to replace everything that has a memory block. I get it."

"Not mentioning they took samples of all our equipment." Carter added.

"Samples of equipment?" Jack snorted. "They stole my cell phone!"

**Two days later, SWC,Antara**

Dawn and Vi were sitting in the conference room and studying the files Willow downloaded from SGC computers. Dawn was nervously tapping her fingers on the table and apparently not paying much attention to the text. "I'm sick of this crap. I should be on Verona's orbit right now, trying to find a way how to get the people out of the planet but what am I doing ? Reading useless info about these morons while Veronians are running out of food, water and clean air to breathe.",she sighed.

"You act like you were possessed. That's why Willow and Faith didn't take you with them." Vi replied.

"They could at least say where they are going. Everything I know is Willow possibly found a way to help the Veronians."

"She probably just didn't want to give anyone a false hope." Vi explained and turned her attention to her laptop again. "And if their reports aren't lies then these morons already managed to save several civilizations so you better continue reading."

"They should be glad Faith and Will didn't blow them up. Which was a mistake."

"So you would do it?" Vi looked into Dawn's eyes. "You would kill them even though we found out it was another General who ordered to send the bomb?"

Dawn just looked down without answering.

"Didn't think so. I realize you're angry because you had friends there but soldiers in SGC don't deserve to die as well as the Veronians didn't deserve it. It's never that simple and if you ask me I think that..."

Vi stopped talking when she noticed Dawn wasn't listening to her anymore. All Dawn did was gazing at the screen of her laptop, frozen and unable to move her eyes away from the picture she was looking at. Vi stood up and went to Dawn to see what shocked her so much. "Dawn this could be anyone."

"It's her. I know that." Dawn shook her head.

"The photograph has incredibly low resolution and if you bothered to read the description you'd find out these people are refugees from one of Apophis's worlds. It's not even the planet where we lost Buffy."

Dawn controlled the world's location."But it's close to it."

"Look." Vi turned Dawn to face her."Problem number one. We can't use stargate without Willow's freezing spell and even if we could, the Tauri will be probably better prepared then the last time. Problem number two. Tauri is a protected planet so if you use a ship, the Asguard will vaporize it before you say Hellmouth. Problem number three. Everyone on Tauri will immediately recognize you're an alien. Problem number four. Faith and the others will never agree with a mission based on a blurry photo."

"That's why we're not going to tell them. Even if there is just a fiddling possibility that it's really Buffy I have to try."Dawn stated with determination in her voice."And nobody will recongize we are aliens because their planet is very similar to ours. Almost too much when I think about it. So are you going to help me or not?"

Vi was watching the photo in silence for almost a minute and Dawn already thought she'll have to go alone when Vi took a deep breath. "I'll help you. Giles would kill me if I didn't. Though Faith is likely to kill me because I will. Give me an hour to prepare and then we'll meet in the hangar."

"Thank you. I don't think I can succeed just by myself." Dawn hug Vi, relieved she wouldn't have to go alone and the she left to her room to pack everything necessary.

Vi watched Dawn leave and went back to the computer. She entered a message for Willow that would activate a week later and explain where she and Dawn were heading. Vi had another reason to go with Dawn besides searching for Buffy. After Willow had downloaded informations from SGC Vi,Faith and Willow realized that General Bauer was the one most responsible for Verona and secretly decided he has to be eliminated. Because Faith and Willow were now the leaders of the fight against the Goa'uld, Vi had volunteered to be the assassin. She downloaded all available informations about Bauer into her PDA and left.

****

Several hours later, low orbit of a protected planet

An Alkesh dropped one of his bombs on a small island. The bomb detonated and set the forest on the island on fire which immediately started spreading. The Alkesh didn't continue the attack and just hovered 100 kilometers above the land for the next five minutes.

"Are you sure they won't shoot first and ask later?" Faith turned to Willow.

"I have no idea that's why I created a strong magical shield around the ship.It should give us time to explain."

They didn't have to wait long and an Asguard vessel left hyperspace above the planet and the communication screen in the Alkesh activated. "I am Thor, commander of the Asguard fleet. You attacked a planet belonging to the treaty. For that you will be destroyed."

"Wait!" Willow shouted and hoped the small grey alien will listen to her. "Check your sensor readings and you'll realize no people live on the island."

Thor inspected the information and nodded. "Then why did you attack it?"

"We need your help."

****

Several hours later, orbit of Tauri

Vi's transport ship left the hyperspace and cloaked. "Do you know the exact position?"

"Not really." Dawn informed her friend. "But we know the coordinates of SGC and the city is like thirty kilometers away from it so it shouldn't be to hard to find."

Vi nodded and flew the ship towards the planet when a Ha'tak left the hyper space only about hundred kilometers behind them.

"Well. I didn't see that coming." Vi stated surprised.

----

"General!" the Lieutenant in control room called Hammond. "We just received a message from Norad. They detected a Ha'tak in our orbit."

"That's exactly what we needed right now." Jack snorted.

"I'll inform the president. With the Alpha Site destroyed we don't have an enough equipped base where we could send our people but we should start the evacuation nevertheless. Alarm all personnel in the base Lieutenant. "Hammond ordered.

"I don't understand why Thor isn't already here beating the crap out of them for breaking the Treaty." Jack wondered."Come on Thor. Where are you ?"

----

"Maybe it belongs to the Tauri." Dawn suggested watching the ship.

"It doesn't. They still haven't the shields activated so I scanned the Ha'tak." Vi informed Dawn."Everyone in there has a symbiont which means we'll have to stop them before they attack."

"Give me one good reason why." Dawn snorted.

"I'll give you two. First. Buffy might be on the planet in a city near Chappa-Ai which is the place they'll certainly attack. Second. I'm not ready to sacrifice six billion people just because they have a screwed up military. It's not like something similar didn't happen on Earth. You're the one who remembers the Initiative so you should know better."

"Fine. So we'll use our ship and destroy it."

"A transport ship against a Ha'tak? Dawn you've been spending to much time watching B science fiction movies with Andrew. We'll have to transport to their vessel while their shields are down and put some explosives near the engines, weapons and the shield generator. The main reactor is too heavily protected."

"Do we have some of these Lunac orbs?"

"Something better." Vi stood up and gave Dawn a small package from her bag. "I'll take the weapons because from the three places the most guards are there. You'll take the shield and the engine."

Dawn nodded. She knew the content of the package. Semtex. Originally developed for metallurgy in Czech Republic this material proved to be the strongest plastic explosive ever created on Earth. She put it into her bag, took her ASW and followed Vi to the rings.

"Where are the Asguard when you need them?" Dawn shook her head.

****

Meanwhile, orbit of Verona

A bright white light flashed in the interior of Thor's ship and two hundred Veronians appeared inside. Willow smiled ready to do a happy dance but decided not to because it might scare away the Asguard commander sitting next to her. "It worked!"

"It's easy to modify our transports to pass a Goa'uld shield when we know all it's parameters." Thor explained.

"We are in your debt. Can you please take these people to one of your protected planets?"

Thor nodded. "I know a planet on the same technological level not far away from here. It will take tens of transports but my ship is fast enough to take care of that in several hours."

"Thank you. The Veronians would run out of water in three days and we were desperate. We wouldn't attack a protected planet to contact your kind if it wasn't necessary."

Thor watched her for a while and then gave her a small white crystal. "Next time use this."

Willow nodded and the Asguard transported her back to Faith.

----

The Lieutenant in SGC called Jack while Hammond was calling the president. "Sir. We just received another message. Norad detected a ring transport from a place near the Ha'tak. However our satellites don't show any ship in the base point of the ring transport."

"Cloaked?" Daniel suggested.

"Probably." Carter agreed. "But why would they try to hide when they know we don't have the means to endanger them? Lieutenant. Try sending a coded greeting. Maybe the cloaked ship belongs to the Tok'ra."

"No answer." the Lieutenant informed Sam.

"I can think of only one other civilization that uses Goa'uld technology and could be interested in our planet right now." Sam guessed.

"Oh no." Jack raised his arms. "Please don't tell me the ship belongs to the slayers. We should really tell Hammond to remove the ad from Galaxy Today that's saying Earth is a great place for unexpected visitations."

"I don't see why you are concerned O'Neill." Teal'c made his favorite eyebrow manoeuvre. "If slayers transported to the Ha'tak then they'll try to destroy it which might save us."

"Or the Ha'tak belongs to the slayers and they came to finish what they started Teal'c. I have a feeling we've just stopped walking in the rain and are now standing under the spout." Jack mused.

----

Dawn carefully continued walking through one of the Ha'tak's corridors. She had already placed a load of Semtex to the ship's engine and managed to remain undetected. Now she was heading to the shield generator. She spotted only two guards near the door talking to each other and not paying attention so she changed the mode of her ASW to zat gun and fired three times at each of them. The guards disappeared and Dawn could easily place a load of explosives to the generator. When she was heading back to the rings a group of Jaffa almost saw her but she was fast enough and hid behind one of the arches of the corridor. Dawn just hoped Vi had the same luck with the guards near the weapon controls.

When Dawn reached the transport ring Vi wasn't there yet but she didn't have to wait long. She saw Vi running towards her with bleeding shoulder and a large group of Jaffa on her heels.

"We have to get out of here!" Vi shouted at her.

Dawn nodded and activated the rings as soon as Vi got close enough.

Vi and Dawn safely transported back to their ship before the Jaffa could reach them. "You're hurt." Dawn studied Vi's shoulder.

"It's just a scratch." Vi waved her hand. "I'll be alright. Slayer heeling remember?"

Dawn nodded, laid her weapon on one of the seats and headed back to the ship's controls."OK. Let's blow the damned Ha'tak."

"I have a better idea." Vi stated with deep voice, her eyes glowing.

Dawn tried to run to the detonator but Vi took her arm, spun her around and threw her at the control panel. While hitting the panel Dawn broke cloaking field's controls and the ship decloaked.

The Ha'tak immediately opened fire at the ship obviously not caring their agent is still on board.

Vi came to Dawn and started to choke her. "This body is amazing. I can feel all the strength and potential."

Dawn tried to move Vi's hands away without success. She kicked her a few times but it didn't have any effect.

"You can not win." Vi laughed.

Dawn was almost losing consciousness when she suddenly felt incredible strength pouring through her body. She hit Vi and sent her flying across the room. Then she took her weapon and aimed at her. Dawn didn't want to kill Vi ,she just wanted to stun her with the zat.

Vi slowly stood up. "I know you're not a slayer. How did you do that?"

"I don't know and right now I don't care." Dawn pressed the trigger but in the same time the ship was hit by the Ha'tak and Dawn missed. She wanted to fire again but in the meantime Vi activated the ring transport and escaped.

Dawn ran to the detonator and pressed the button to activate the explosives hoping the Jaffa didn't have enough time to find them. She knew the Ha'tak's weapons will stay intact because the Goa'uld in Vi certainly removed Vi's bomb.She wondered how it was possible for her to defeat Vi. She didn't feel the power anymore. It lasted only for several seconds. The Ha'tak fired again and Dawn hurried to the controls and tried to keep the ship away from the plasma shots but she soon realized it was useless. The engine was damaged and the ship was slowly losing height and falling towards the continent.

----

"There were two other transports. From the Ha'tak to the cloaked ship a minute ago and then back after about forty seconds. The other ship decloaked and is falling towards our continent." the Lieutenant informed Hammond. "Sir! Norad reports they detected an explosion where the Ha'tak's shield generator is situated."

"General if the shields are disabled we can destroy the ship." Carter suggested. "We have a long-range ballistic missile reinforced with naquadah ready to launch."

Hammond nodded and went to make the necessary calls. In two minutes the missile was already flying towards the Ha'Tak.

"The missile will reach the ship in thirty seconds."the Lieutenant notified. "General! Norad reports the ship is activating it's engines. They're trying to escape!"

The Goa'uld commanding the Ha'tak noticed the rocket flying towards his ship and ordered retreat. Fighting with the Tauri was never the objective of his mission anyway. He was supposed to test the new shields and search for Ra's eye. The Jaffa he had send to Egypt with a cloaked ship had already returned and reported that Ra's eye isn't on the planet so he sent the message to Anubis and flew his ship towards a place suitable for entering hyperspace.

Thor was transporting another group of Veronians when he saw a message from one of their sensors he didn't notice before. A Ha'tak was near Tauri. Thor didn't want to fly into a possible battle with 200 civilians on board so he decided to finish the transport at first and then rushed to help his allies.

The Asguard vessel reached Tauri and Thor saw the Ha'tak ready to leave . He didn't hesitate and fired at the ship destroying it.

----

Dawn woke up inside the crashed ship having no idea where the ship was or how long she slept so she looked at her watch and realized she was out for more then one hour. The Tauri soldiers will definitely soon find the crash site.Dawn checked the sensors records and found out the Ha'tak had been destroyed by an Asguard ship which meant Vi was dead. Dawn wasn't sure how to feel about it. She had just lost a friend but on the other hand she was glad the Goa'uld in Vi probably didn't have time to send away info about SWC. She stood up, took her weapon and destroyed the ships memory blocks. She wanted to send a message to Antara but she noticed the communication equipment was fried as well as her transmitter and PDA so she took Vi's fittings.

Dawn left the ship seeing it was in a coniferous forest not far away from a road. The problem was three blue vans just stopped on the place nearest to the crash site and she also heard a helicopter above her. Dawn ran in direction away from the road and hid Vi's transmitter and PDA on two different places in case she got captured, remembering the coordinates. She continued running away from the road for several minutes, then stopped and turned around to see if she's being followed . Dawn didn't see anyone so she turned back...to find herself surrounded by ten soldiers.

----

John stood up hearing someone coming to the room where he was imprisoned. The steel door of the room opened and he saw two men holding a young girl dressed in black outfit who had her hands tied behind her back and a scarf placed on her head to cover her eyes. One of the guards removed the ropes and the scarf and turned to John. "You've just got yourself a roommate."

End Chapter.

A/N: I know putting both Dawn and John in the same room is a little illogical but I just wanted them to be together.

Please review.


	15. Pawns

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 14 - Pawns

**January 2005, Tauri**

John and Dawn were siting on their simple beds studying each other in silence. Dawn eyed her roommate up and down, ruminating about how she should proceed. She needed more information about the place to plan a possible escape and the guy seemed to be closed there for some time. Perhaps he could help her to get out? On the other hand, her captors definitely locked him up for a reason and she had no idea how dangerous he might be. Dawn gave his face a second look, admitting he didn't exactly carry a Fredy Krueger expression. Spiky brown hair, friendly eyes. If the situation was different she'd consider him quite handsome and probably a nice person, but the way he was looking at her showed a soldier who was alert the whole time. Is he going to glare at me until I die of boredom?, Dawn wondered. After several minutes Dawn came to the conclusion she had waited long enough and decided to force him talk to her. "Is this some kind of staring competition Tauri? Or are you just inarticulate?"

"Maybe I just have no interest to talk to you slayer." John countered. So she finally decided to speak, he thought. John was curious about many topics that concerned the new prisoner, but what startled him the most was her age. The girl couldn't be older then eighteen and too young for a soldier.

Dawn was a little surprised the guy knew about slayers but tried not to show it. "What's a slayer?"

"Oh come on. The black combat outfit, NID's interest in you and you called me Tauri. Nobody from the Earth would do that.", John smirked, making clear she didn't fool him.

Well at least now I know I'm not in SGC but NID, Dawn thought. "Doesn't mean I'm a slayer and since you think you're so smart do you have an idea where we are?"

John was thinking about sending the girl to hell but decided against it. They were both in the same situation right? Maybe he could use that and find out something about slayers in the meantime. "I've seen only six rooms and two corridors but I guess it's an abandoned hospital. No idea where the building is. From the grilled window I could only recognize we are in the first floor and near a park."

"And how did they capture you?"

"That's none of your business.", John growled. The cheap way NID agents got to him was still pestering his mind. Jack would laugh his ass off if he found out and John had no intention to reveal his failure to this girl.

"Oh." Dawn chuckled. "I guess it wasn't very heroic was it?"

"I'm sure you got captured during saving our planet."

"Well. Actually. Yes. " Dawn lingered if she should share more information and decided it couldn't hurt as long as she doesn't reveal anything too important. "There was a Ha'tak in the orbit of your planet and we tried to destroy it. We managed to disable the shields and then an Asguard vessel appeared and destroyed the craft."

"We?" John inquired.

"My friend didn't make it. She..." Dawn closed her eyes, remembering Vi's features changing as the Goa'uld revealed himself and the fight that followed. "...became a Goa'uld."

John recognized the pain in the girl's face. He knew exactly how it felt to loose a friend in battle against the snakeheads. "I'm sorry."

Dawn looked up right into his eyes, studying his face and then nodded with a little surprised expression, a soft smile playing on her lips. "You are."

John started to be even more curious about his new roommate. She certainly didn't meet his expectations of a slayer. He imagined their appearance and behavior would fit their calling - slayers. Ruthless, vicious and ready to kill anything in their path, but the girl in front him looked more like someone he could meet in high school. The only difference was in her eyes. They revealed a person who lived through more then anyone in her age John knew and definitely belonged to a very strong character. Maybe he was wrong and slayers weren't an aggressive nation trying to conquer other planets. Maybe they just fought to survive the same way as SGC. Their situation might be even worse then the problems of his own world. It would explain one thing - the girl's age.

"Was your friend...uhm...as young as you are?" John hoped the question won't make her even more upset.

"No." Dawn shook her head. "She was twenty-three. One of the oldest."

John stared at the girl next to him, hoping his mouth didn't open with surprise. Her team member was twenty-three and one of the oldest soldiers? What kind of nation is sending children to fight their wars?

"Thank you.", John blurred out, surprised by saying that to a slayer.

"For what?"

"Trying to save us.", John replied, aware his thanks were a poor comfort, compared to what she had lost, but he hoped it would at least improve her mood a little.

"You should thank Vi. She was the one to persuade me that we can't let the Ha'tak attack a world with six billion people." Dawn confessed she probably wouldn't help if Vi didn't persuade her.

John nodded, accepting her explanation. "What's your name?"

Dawn hesitated for a while, but then she decided her name wasn't exactly one of the most crucial information to give away. "Dawn."

"I'm John O'Neill. Well now you don't have to call me Tauri."

Dawn studied her surroundings. "You said we're in a hospital. Why? Your land ran out of prisons?"

"I think the NID is using this facility for their experiments and testing. That's why they captured me. I happen to have an advanced DNA or whatever. I guess they brought you here for the same reason. Because you're a slayer."

"I'm not a slayer." Dawn smirked. He obviously had no idea what a real slayer would do in this situation. Buffy could easily break through that door and get rid of all guards within two minutes. "Not all of us are slayers. Got it? Slayers are... let's say it's a rank." Dawn stated.

"Got it. Well NID thinks your people are genetically engineered soldiers because of your strength and speed. I guess that's why you're here now."

"We're not and..." Dawn studied John's face closely."Wait a minute. John O'Neill. You're Jack's clone!"

John frowned. "And how do you know that?"

Dawn realized she made a mistake. "Uh.., let's say my friends visited your friends few days ago. You know what? I feel tired. I think sleep is a good idea right now." , she pretended to be asleep and yawned, hoping he won't ask more questions.

John agreed, thinking of various possibilities how Dawn could know about him. He doubted SGC would tell the slayers even if they stopped fighting against each other. He laid on his bed, tossing various ideas about the 'visit' Dawn mentioned in his mind. He decided it would be better to act like he didn't suspect anything. Maybe Dawn would tell him more later.

----

Dawn woke up, finding a plate with food and a glass of water on a table next to her but John was gone. She hoped the tests he had talked about were not something Initiative-type. The previous day John seemed to be quite okay so she doubted it and started eating. Before she left Antara with Vi, Dawn had created a charm that would shield her from the effect of various chemicals so she didn't have to worry about the food being drugged.

Exactly in the time when she finished her meal the steel door opened and a guard holding John came inside. He roughly pushed John towards his bed, causing him to fall hit the metal structure.

"John!" Dawn ran to him, her face filled with worries.

"Introduction to NID's behavior. Chapter one - gentleness." John snorted, standing up with a grin. Then he carefully walked to the door to make sure the guard had really left. "I have bad news. I heard the guards talking while I pretended to sleep. SGC found the crash site of your ship and is looking everywhere for you."

"What's so bad about it?"Dawn wondered.

"The guards said Kinsey will probably decide to kill you before SG-1 finds this place. That bastard wants to control SGC and a war with your people would help him to persuade the president about Hammond's incompetence. We have to get out of here. They'll probably try to get some informations out of you before they kill you. It's strange they haven't tried it yet."

"Oh, they did." Dawn shrugged." Before I was brought to this room they used some kind of truth serum but it didn't work. So do you have an idea how to get out of here?"

"I'm quite sure I could disable the lock on the door. The problem is the camera in the corner. You know that's a device able to record video and..."

"I know what a camera is.", Dawn cut in."I'm from another planet, I'm not retarded. And you can disable locks? A family tradition?"

"When you spend twenty years as black ops you learn stuff." John explained. "Though I might have lost touch during the last years in SGC."

"Right. I forgot you used to be Jack."

"You have no idea how it is to wake up and be suddenly someone else.", John replied, his voice much more sad then before as he recalled his days in SGC.

"You'd be surprised. I had my share of identity crisis few years back." Dawn chuckled, remembering her behavior when she found out she was the key. "So you miss it?"

John nodded. "It was my life. SGC. Fight against the Goa'uld. I would do anything to join this fight again but Hammond made it clear that two O'Neills on one base are too much even for him. So the problem is..." John continued. "...to make those who control the camera let it monitor only the other side of the room and in order to do that you have to ask for a soap."

Dawn raised her eyebrow so high it would make Teal'c proud."You want to WASH the camera?"

"Not exactly." John started explaining."You know the sink is on the opposite side of the room and all the guards are men so..."

"Forget it you perv!" Dawn interrupted John, making a face of disgust.

"If you have a better idea I'm listening."

"If you think I'm going to do 'Wet and Wild' in front the types that kidnapped me then..." Dawn reconsidered the situation. "...you're probably right. But I doubt it will work. I mean these guys aren't amateurs."

John viewed Dawn's figure with a satisfied grin spreading over his face. "Have you looked into the mirror recently? It will work." ,he smirked and went to the room's window, looking where the sun was. "In less then ten minutes one of the guards will drive away to get some food. He leaves the same time every day for more then two hours and the doctors usually join him. I think that during their absence are two of the remaining guards in the control room, watching the monitors and one stays near the main entrance." John paused. "Now it's time to feel dirty."

Dawn rolled her eyes, shaking her head in irritation. Boys.

"You know what I mean."

Dawn nodded and started knocking at the door. In about twenty seconds she heard foosteps followed by a guard's voice. "What do you want?"

"Can I get a soap to wash my hands?" Dawn inquired, trying to make her request seem as innocent as possible.

"Use the water. That's enough." ,the guard snapped at her.

"You know I'm not from this planet right? I don't have natural resistance against the bacteria on this world." Dawn explained, hoping he would buy it. "You don't want me to die too soon do you?"

"Bring her the damned soap man." another guard bark. "I don't want any complications."

The first guard growled and left. In two minutes he returned with a soap , opened the door and gave it to Dawn, who eagerly accepted it, giving the guard a seductive smile.

"Now we have to wait until one of them leaves for food." John remarked. "Let's hope it will be soon."

"So eager to leave my company?" Dawn chuckled. She wanted to leave as soon as possible too, but she still didn't know how to find Buffy without sneaking into SGC. What will happen after they get rid of the NID agents?

"I'm not." John shook his head."This building didn't have many visits while I was here. Only Kinsey and those refugees a few weeks ago."

"What refugees?"

"I'm not sure. I overheard a conversation between two guards. They were talking about the NID testing a new brainwashing drug on some refugees from one of Apophis's worlds. The drug is supposed to cause hallucinations but they said it worked only on one of the five test subjects and only partially. NID couldn't even find out the trigger. They said her subconscious somehow chose it, without her even knowing about it. So they just gave her something to forget she was ever here and the NID gave up using the drug on members of SGC."

"But why would they try to brainwash refugees?" Dawn asked, hoping the woman John mentioned wasn't who she thought it was.

"The NID lost access to the stargate but the people the SGC saves are usually sent to another world and can come back without problems because the SGC gives them an IDC or places a MALP on their planet. That can be very useful." John explained, looking out of the window, observing the situation outside. "It's time."

Dawn went to the sink, turned on the water and slowly started to undress her T-shirt while John was lying on his bed and pretending to watch Dawn. He soon realized he is not pretending at all and it took him a lot of self-restraint to concentrate on the camera instead of Dawn's torso now covered only in a black bra. The plan worked and the camera stopped it's usual rotation and focused on Dawn who was now washing her arms and shoulders. John sneaked to the lock and used a piece of metal he picked up earlier as a screwdriver to open it. He studied the lock's interior for a while to find out what type it was and which wires he had to connect. He turned around to find out if the camera was still fixed on Dawn. It was, but the problem in that moment wasn't the camera but Dawn herself because John couldn't help it and started staring. Somewhere deep in his mind John's old reasonable self just got it's ass kicked by his teenage boy hormones.

Dawn noticed what John's doing and decided she better make him finish his work before the guards realize what's happening. "Did you make this plan to get us away from here or to salivate?", she inquired without turning to him.

'Both.' John's mind answered but he replied:"I prefer blonde astrophysicists. No offence."

"Then perhaps you could stop that drooling contest and do what you're supposed to."

John connected the right wires and the lock opened without alarming the soldiers. "Finished."

Dawn quickly dressed and ran after John to the hospital's corridor. They heard footsteps coming closer and hid behind a wall near the door, hoping they won't be discovered. When the two guards entered their room to inspect the prisoners, they attacked them from behind, easily disarming them and then tied the two agents, using their own ropes.

"There's still one left." John reminded Dawn. He wanted to continue walking towards the exit when he heard a shot behind him and felt sharp pain in his leg, losing his balance. Dawn turned around and fired at the last guard. She didn't miss and the man dropped his weapon with a bullet in his shoulder. Dawn shot once more, this time hitting his leg and he fell to the floor.

"Are you OK?" Dawn ran to John who was now sitting on the floor and holding his leg, looking more annoyed then in pain.

"It's just a scratch. It's almost not bleeding." John took a piece of cloth from one of the guards, tore it and used it as bandage. Meanwhile Dawn tied up the last guard, not caring about his injuries and searched through the others. She took their wallets and ammunition, putting it into one of their bags. She also took a cell phone and gave it to John. "Call your friends in SGC."

John nodded and dialed a number he was given by Jack in case he got into trouble. He remembered Jack's warning to never ever use it and expected a lot of yelling when Jack would pick it up. Fortunately Carter reached the phone sooner so Dawn didn't have to spend the next hour watching him argue with his former self. After a short dialogue they agreed to send a helicopter and take them to a local military base.

"They located our position using the cell phone's signal." John informed her. "A group of local FBI agents is on their way here and also looking for the remaining agent and the doctors. SG-1 should arrive here in about three hours. I guess it's over."

"Good." Dawn nodded and checked the ropes they used to tie the three guards once more. Then she walked behind John. "Thanks for your help. I changed my opinion about Tauri. Not all of you are ass holes. And don't forget I'm sorry for the other thing."

"The other thing?"

"This." Dawn hit the back of John's head with the handle of the pistol, knocking him out. "I'm sorry but there is no way SGC would just let me go."

Dawn ran out of the hospital to a road not far away. She started waving her arm and hoped hitchhiking worked the same way on Tauri. Several cars passed her and Dawn almost thought she's doing something wrong when a small green car stopped ten meters in front of her. She ran to the door and quickly got in, looking at the driver for the first time. It was an approximately sixty years old woman with grayish hair who welcomed her with a friendly smile. "Where are you going honey?"

"Colorado." Dawn answered, turning back to make sure nobody followed her.

"Oh. Well I can take you only to St.Paul. I'm visiting my relatives there." The woman replied kindly, studying Dawn's almost ruined outfit and bruises she had from the fights, looking worried. "Far away from home child?"

"You could say that.", Dawn chuckled. Far away didn't really cover it.

"Well. I hope you know what you're doing."

Dawn didn't answer and just nodded. She knew exactly what she had to do. Find Buffy.

End Chapter

Review please.


	16. Hide and Seek

Rating:G

Chapter 15 - Hide and Seek

A/N:Dawn is going to use about seven different names in this chapter. There is really no need to remember any of them.

Dawn said good bye to Nicol, the old woman who took her to St.Paul and looked around the busy street, thinking about what she had to do next. Money, the right appearance, transport. Three basic needs for anyone in a new town or ... well ... on a new planet. Dawn took some cash from the NID guards, but it wouldn't be enough to travel around the country, unless the inflation in this USA stopped in the 1920's and using credit cards would give away her position. She counted 356 dollars and fifty cents, however the money problem could wait. First she needed to change her clothes to look less suspicious. Her torn black combat outfit combined with the scratches and cuts on her arms screamed 'I escaped from a mad-house. Ask me how.' The first cop to see her would arrest her, not mentioning John knew how she looked. This meant SGC knew it as well and soon every newspaper would be full of her portraits, asking all the good faithful citizens to report the armed and dangerous lunatic.

After walking few blocks down the avenue, Dawn entered the first hypermarket on her way and bought cheap jeans, T-shirt, underwear, sun glasses, hair-dye, choosing blonde color and a map. She stuffed all her previous clothes into the bag, keeping only the black leather jacket. It was practical and she also couldn't afford to buy a new one though the prices were low. At least the prizes are different here, Dawn thought. It still amazed her how similar the two planets proved to be. Same countries and continents, same currency. She could recognize only a few variances when she studied the map. No California and of course no Sunnydale, Norfolk was on the western coast, Hudson's bay was much smaller, lake Michigan was called Michi gami and lake Superior Kitchi gami, which Dawn found somehow really cute. She would swear this Earth was in an alternate reality. Of course the time on this Earth was different as well. It was January 2005 on Dawn's homeworld, while she red in a Tauri newspaper the date May 2000, which explained the warm weather in a city close to Canadian borders.

Now Dawn needed more money and a car, which meant finding someone who would buy the NID weapons. She could steal, but that would draw even more attention to her. However to look for a weapon dealer is easier said then done. It's not like she could walk to the nearest shop and ask. Though if the situation on this Earth was the same as on her's, there was someone who could probably help her -a taxi driver. Dawn stopped a taxi and simply asked the man behind the steering wheel to take her to the worst part of the city. The guy warned her and tried to persuade her to change her mind, but she insisted. When the taxi reached it's destination and she got out, it was already dark and Dawn found herself in an empty street with broken and grilled windows, non-fuctional traffic lights and the popular sound of a police car chasing some robber creating appropriate background. Perfect.

She was a little scared, even though anyone who had spend a weekend with Faith knew exactly how to behave in this kind of neighborhood. Now all I have to do is to get robbed, Dawn smirked. Making a perfectly unprepared appearance, she slowly walked to the street's corner, looking for a possible prey when a guy she didn't notice cropped up behind her, pushing her towards the wall.

Dawn flung back her head, crushing the attacker's nose, forcing him to step away and then quickly turned around with her elbow aimed at his chin. The blow stroke home and the guy staggered, which gave Dawn a chance to grab his arm, twist it behind his back and shove him into the wall, reversing their situation.

"That was even faster then I hoped for.", Dawn remarked, searching through the young men's jacket and finding a small 45 caliber revolver. "Now would you be so kind and tell me where you got this?" 

"Fuck you.", he tried to free himself, but Dawn just twisted his arm harder. "I don't spill info to whores or cops and you're probably both."

"And if I say please?", Dawn cocked his gun, placing the barrel right under his chin. "You know I always longed to see how a men's brain smeared over a concrete wall looks like. I guess I should thank you for offering me the opportunity to satisfy my desire."

"You wouldn't..."

"Did I mention I have a really bad day?", Dawn pressed the barrel of the gun harder to his skin. "And you certainly know what stress can do with the control of your fingers. They're shaking and quivering. You do realize how hard it is to keep them in one place, don't you?" 

"Wait!", the guy quickly changed his opinion. Dawn was sure he'd piss in his pants if she had made another sarcastic remark. "I'll take you there."

Dawn pushed him in front of her, still holding his arm to make sure he wouldn't try to escape and followed him to another street. Two blocks from the place where he attacked her, the man entered a bar and the mixed smell of smoke and alcohol hit Dawn's senses as the eyes of locals studied the newcomer and her guide brought her to the background door behind the bar protected by a heavy who didn't give the impression of being particularly enthused by the visit of Dawn's robber.

"What do you want Harry?" ,the human dinosaur stopped them."Boss is busy. And I told you many times to leave your tramps outside of this building Johnson.", he added, giving Dawn a short glance.

"I'm here for business.", Dawn got the guard's attention. 

"That exactly what I'm talking about."

"I'm meant this kind of business.", Dawn opened her bag, letting him take a look at the weapons stored inside. The man eyed her suspiciously for a while, but then nodded and let her into the next room after he checked she had all her weapons in the bag and not loaded. Dawn entered a storage area with many containers and crates, catching sight of a short man with the meanest look she'd ever seen sitting behind a table in the middle, smoking a cigar and watching her with curiosity like he couldn't decide what he was supposed to think about her.

"Welcome. You know, I usually don't get this type of visit.", he greeted Dawn with a false smile. "You said you want to trade, but from my point of view, you could be just a damned bluecoat. A very stupid one, to be more specific, because only an idiot would come here and introduce herself the way you did."

"Watch the news.", Dawn smirked. It has been more then six hours since she escaped from NID and she was sure SGC already started looking for her, using all means necessary. The dealer ordered his men to switch on the TV and choose the channel with local news. A reporter was just talking about a car crash near the city park and the boss sent Dawn a confused look.

"I'm sure it will be there.", Dawn stated calmly. They didn't have to wait long and another reporter appeared on the screen, standing in front of a nearly destroyed building with several firemen, smoke coming out of the debris.

"I'm standing in front of the old abandoned hospital with the team from St.Paul's fire-brigade ...", the live broadcast started."... where these brave men had to solve yet another outcome of human tragedy. Dawn Kusovich, a mentally unstable Russian emigrant escaped from the FBI custody and ended up here, living in this establishment for several days, probably because it reminded her of the clinic for mentally disordered where she had spent the last months and then burned down the building. The local FBI working on this case gave us several pictures and a short video showing Dawn Kusovich during her stay in the asylum, which we'll show you in a few moments. The FBI asks all citizens for cooperation. If anyone sees this woman, please call the local police or FBI agency. Please be aware Miss Kusovich might be armed and is extremely dangerous. Any information about the Russian emigrant will be rewarded."

Dawn watched a video of her in the TV with her arms crossed, choking back her desire to burst out laughing. The video record was obviously taken from the NID and modified, because she couldn't see John on any of the shown pictures. Insane Russian emigrant, Dawn summarized the cover story SGC used. These guys really needed a lesson in creativity.

"An interesting story Miss Kusovich.", the dealer remarked."Though the way you showed up here proves you might be insane, I seriously doubt it. However I believe you're not a cop and fortunately I'm not interested in the story of your life. There is only one thing bothering me at the moment. Why shouldn't I give you to the FBI and take the reward?"

"Of course you could.", Dawn shrugged."But if the word gets out, you're double-crossing your clients, you could promptly find yourself as a part of the concrete bottom of some new nearby residence." 

"Clever and beautiful." the dealer chuckled. "I hate this combination, but I guess we should talk business now. What exactly do you offer?"

"I have one MP-5, two P-90, four 9mm pistols. I'll keep one pistol and several magazines, the rest is yours. I want a car, something common, with the right papers and five thousand dollars."

"These weapons aren't that expensive. I'll give you a brand new Ford and three thousand."

"Four and a half.", Dawn objected. In fact three would be probably enough, but she was sure the guy was ready to pay more.

"Four."

"Done." Dawn agreed and gave the dealer her weapons. Finally something I managed sooner then Buffy, Dawn smirked. Using black market to sell weapons ... well ... maybe that's not the best thing to brag about. Anyway most important was she got the means to start searching for her sister.

**Washington D.C.**

Senator Kinsey opened the steel door leading to the vault under his residence, walked to one of the concrete walls and typed the right code to disable the alarm on his safe. From the safe he took a Goa'uld communication orb and placed it on a table standing nearby. Kinsey had just received a message that Dawn had escaped from the laboratory and he knew explaining this failure won't be easy. He activated the orb and waited until the connection established and a figure in dark cloak appeared.

"She escaped."

"Your incompetence is incredible."Anubis stood up from the throne, his voice full of rage."How do you want to rule your world when you're unable to take care of two women? If you can't control them then kill both parts of the Key or our deal is over and I will be the one to destroy your planet."

"These slayers don't react the way we expected. After we had sent the bomb to Verona and kidnapped Buffy they were supposed to kill Hammond and everyone on the base.", Kinsey defended himself.

"I'm not interested in your excuses. I want results. You should remember that everyone is expendable." Anubis ended the transmission.

Kinsey left the secret room, thinking how to solve this situation. He didn't worry about Buffy. The drug NID used on her worked only partially but she still had no idea about being a slayer. She planned to join Bra'tac and his Jaffa in the fight against Goa'uld and such a small group wouldn't be a problem for Anubis's troops. Delivering her to Anubis this way will be even easier then sending a ship here. His problem was Dawn. He knew he had to find her before Hammond will have a chance to make peace with her people. He called the leaders of NID teams and ordered them to monitor members of SGC.

"Kill Dawn and anyone from stargate command she contacts." Kinsey told his subordinates. "Especially if she gets close to SG-1."

Kinsey was sure Dawn came to the planet to find her sister, which meant her destination will be SGC itself. He doubted a single woman could repeat the security breach from two weeks ago and that was actually the problem. If Dawn will be captured during her attempt to get inside the mountain, Hammond might explain her the conflict with NID and maybe even contact the president. Then Kinsey would lose his position or worse - he could be arrested for the crimes of his agents. No. Dawn had to be stopped before she would get a chance to share information with SGC. 

----

Dawn sat in the car she had bought the previous day and started flicking over the pages of various newspapers until she finally found herself. "Here I am." She studied the picture which was obviously made from the NID's video records. "Yep. Dawn Kusovich. Nice picture." Dawn grinned. "The cover stories on this planet suck.", she noticed the 'police' number in the newspaper. She remembered the number - it was the same one John used in the hospital. "Looks like SGC wants me alive. Good for me!" Dawn smirked, her voice dripping with irony. She doubted anyone would recognize her because she had cut her hair and dyed it blonde as well as her eyebrows. Of course she already got rid of the old clothes as well. Add a pair of sunglasses and Dawn looked completely different.

Dawn finished reading the news and resumed driving. It didn't take long and she arrived to the crash site. The transport ship was gone, the Tauri probably managed to repair it or somehow transferred it to area 51. Dawn took the binoculars she had bought earlier and used them to examine the surroundings. After one hour she was quite sure nobody is guarding the crash site and went to pick up Vi's transmitter and PDA. She found both of them undamaged and they seemed to be working which was great luck considering the storm previous day. Dawn knew she was too far away from Antara to send a message so she left the forest, got in her car and searched through the info in Vi's PDA for the fastest way to Colorado Springs. During the search Dawn noticed another directory labeled Bauer. She opened it and found General Bauer's personal files with telephone number and address. Dawn's eyes narrowed. She would take care of him later. Her sister was more important.

According to the files downloaded from SGC, the refugees were usually taken to a military hospital in Colorado Springs and then sent to one of the few free planets that accepted people SGC saved. Her only lead was the photograph of what she thought was Buffy together with ten another villagers and a member of SG-1 she recognized as Daniel Jackson. No names, no personal files about the refugees, at least not in SGC. But where then? The place they called area 51? Sneaking into a heavily guarded military base could prove to be beyond her abilities. Perhaps it won't be necessary. Maybe the needed information was in the Colorado Springs hospital, which was a military institution yet it was definitely easier to enter. 

Vi's PDA stored the downloaded access codes, but Dawn was sure SGC changed them right after the attack. However what probably stayed the same were the phone numbers and definitely the names of SGC members. A very useful information if she'd be able to find a way to use it. All direct calls to SGC were under permanent surveilance so calling to the headquarters was out of question, however ... Dawn got an idea. The telephone sets here didn't have the CLIP function to show the subscriber identification of an incoming call. So what about calling from SGC?

--- 

Standing in front of the activated stargate together with two other men from the world where she was captured several months before, Buffy got ready to leave the place she now almost considered her home, nervously stepping from one foot to the other. The two men said once more their thanks to the SGC soldiers and waited for Buffy to join them.

Buffy watched the familiar faces of people in the gateroom, feeling the sadness imprinted in their eyes. She had spent months on this planet and she knew it was time to move on, not with the world where she had found two great friends, but with the purpose of her life, which used to be waiting for a miracle, the hope that one day she might regain her memory and go back to whatever she was before she came to SGC. This option wasn't possible anymore. For months she searched for a way to remember her previous life, looked for a place where she'd belong, without realizing she already found it. It didn't matter what job or obligations she used to have, now she was free and chose to become a part of something important. She enjoyed her new role, even though she couldn't deny her fear from the Goa'uld and her doubts the Jaffa will consider her one of them. 

"And what if they don't accept me?" Buffy turned to Daniel. "I mean Bra'tac told me the place is not exactly overcrowded by female soldiers. To be more accurate, I'll be the first one."

"The Jaffa respect fighting skills and I've seen you training with Teal'c. You learn incredibly fast Joan. I'm sure you'll do fine." Daniel tried to assure her. In fact Daniel would prefer Joan staying on Earth, billion miles away from any Goa'uld, save and knitting sweaters, but he had respected her decision and hoped his face didn't betray how scared he was for the new member of Bra'tac warriors. It was clear Joan was different from the first time she picked up a staff and he remembered well how shocked and enthused Teal'c was after their first training. In a single month Joan was able to learn the moves and techniques an average Jaffa had to study for ten years since his childhood. Her talent surpassed all expectations and that was exactly what scared Daniel the most, because it meant the woman he accepted as one of his close friends will soon fight in a battle that had already cost him more than he was ready to sacrifice.

After the death of Shauri Daniel was desperate, avoiding his friends and seriously speculating about leaving SGC and staying on Abydos. His wife was the main cause he decided to join SG-1 and when she passed away, he thought there was no reason for him to continue his work. The refugees he helped to survive, people like Joan proved him wrong, made him realize that as long as he could help, his life had a purpose. Once again he couldn't imagine working anywhere else but SGC. 

However the fact Joan was a friend of two members of SG-1 definitely wasn't the only reason why there was a party the previous day with more then thirty soldiers, technicians and medical assistants. Joan brought to the mountain something very important they even didn't realize was missing. Life. Her endless and never-enough-to-be-regretted interest for the work of anyone she had met gave the people in SGC the so much needed chance to talk freely about their job, her puns and banter making everybody laugh, offering an opportunity to forget how responsible and dangerous the stargate mission was. She even made Teal'c smile, which was beyond the ability of anyone Daniel had met during his traveling all around the galaxy. 

"You have the potential to become a great warrior." Teal'c slightly bowed his head. "Otherwise I wouldn't recommend master Bra'tac to accept you."

Buffy hugged Teal'c and then Daniel. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. I won't forget it." Buffy paused as another idea found a way into her mind and frowned. "But if one of you won't come to visit me at least once a month I'll come back and kick your ass."

"That would be a great disagreeableness." Teal'c stated with serious expression of someone who just lost hundred dollars in poker. "I'm sure all of us are already missing your hair styles recommendations. Especially the General and I."

"Hey!" Buffy turned to Daniel who started coughing from his attempts to keep a serious expression. "Did he just make a joke? The galaxy is doomed!", Buffy smirked and looked around the gateroom once more. "I'm gonna miss you both." 

"Not as much as we will miss you.", Daniel whispered as Buffy took a deep breath, shaking away her fear and followed the two men through the wormhole.

----

It took Dawn three days to reach Colorado Springs, with a great luck that caused not a single cop wanted to see her ID during the trip. Now she was watching the gatekeeper guarding the entrance to the hospital with her binoculars, a green air force soldier uniform she planned to use in her bag. The soldier was controlling the identification of all visitors and Dawn realized she'd have to use the more hazardous version of her plan to get the files about refugees. The first step was to make sure Daniel Jackson wasn't inside the building, which was actually very easy to find out. In a nearby kiosk, she dialed the number of the reception, introduced herself as Daniel's friend and asked if she could speak with him. The reception clerk replied the archaeologist left three hours sooner, which meant the way was free. The second step would be more complicated. She needed to persuade Dr.West to give her the files or at least tell her where he kept them. Dawn browsed the information about SGC and chose a new operator, whose voice the doctor probably won't be able to recognize.

Dr.West just wanted to finish writing the report about the test results from P1X 547 and send them to Fraiser when his phone rang. He picked it up, ruminating about who had the guts to bother him in the late afternoon. "West."

"Doctor West, this is Jane Hicks from the mountain.", Dawn introduced herself, trying to make her voice sound deeper then it really was. "I'm sorry to bother you, but do you remember if doctor Jackson took the files about refugees from P2X 586 as Dr. Fraiser asked him?"

"Wait a minute.", doctor West looked into his desk. "No they're still here. Why? I thought you already have a copy, don't you?", West asked, finding the call a little suspicious.

"Actually some of our files were damaged during a security breech two weeks ago. I'm not authorized to give you details, but we need new copies and I hoped Daniel will bring them since he visits the hospital quite often. He probably forgot."

"Well I don't see a way how I could help you.", West replied, hoping the soldier on the other end will finally stop wasting his time. What does the woman expect? That he'll bring the reports the SGC by himself? Ridiculous."You'll just have to wait till he comes again. Or you can send someone else."

Dawn had to bite her arm to restrain herself from chuckling and blowing her cover. Not only did the guy believe she was calling from SGC, in his arrogance he even agreed to pass the files on someone else. "One of my colleagues is visiting the clinic today. Her name is Vanda Lipkin.", Dawn used another name from SGC. "Perhaps you could give her the files?"

"Only if you finally stop keeping me from finishing my job.", West agreed bitterly.

"Thank you for your cooperation Dr. West.", Dawn smiled. "Vanda will come by in about half an hour.", Dawn put down the receiver. Now she had to ditch the Ford close to the main gate and get some kind of military vehicle to bring her to the hospital. She was thinking about taking the Ford in the beginning, but decided against it. A military clinic probably used cameras to record every visitor and Dawn had to keep her car a secret, because getting a new one without an ID would be problem and she couldn't use a stolen car. It would make her too easy to find as well.

With a bicycle she bought during her trip, Dawn took the rarely used road leading from Colorado Springs to SGC, counting on the fact she'd soon meet a suitable vehicle. Dawn didn't have to wait long to see a jeep going in the same direction. Turning around and making sure they were alone, Dawn prepared to show a perfect example of a young injured woman in need of a strong man's help, hoping the driver had good reflexes. With a shriek she fell to the ground, rolling forward and then she stayed lying on the cold asphalt, not daring to move and waiting for the soldier to 'save' her. She heard the unmistakable sound of squeaking brakes and got ready, holding a pepper spray hidden under the right sleeve of her shirt, just in case she'd have to fight.

"Are you hurt?", a young man rushed to the wounded cyclist. She didn't seem to be seriously injured, but her trousers were torn, her knee bleeding and she had few nasty looking bruises.

"I'm fine.", Dawn replied, intentionally wincing when she moved her leg and as the soldier was helping her up, she faked her legs betrayed her and fell right into his embrace.

"Yeah. I can see how fine you are.", the man held her more tightly. "The hospital is only a mile away from here. I can take you so a doc can examine your injuries."

"Ok.", Dawn nodded, slightly trembling as she walked towards his jeep, supported by his arm. Of course she could easily ignore the pain, in fact her mind was an exemplary image of a mischievous grin. She rested on the passenger seat, while he took the bike and her bag and put it on the dicky-seat. "What's your name?", he asked.

"Buffy.", Dawn replied leisurely, but she was carefully watching the soldier's reaction. "Buffy Summers."

"Richard Fulton.", he introduced himself. "I'm sorry we meet in such an unpleasant circumstance. Buffy. That's an interesting name."

"Well my family comes from Vancouver. It's not that uncommon there.", Dawn shrugged. It seemed the man never heard of her sister. His answer was honest, but she wanted to be sure. "So you never met a woman called Buffy before?"

"Don't think so.", now it was his opportunity to shrug his shoulders. "Then again I had spent most of my life in Colorado and I've never been to Canada.", he added. Meanwhile the jeep reached the gate and the soldier showed his ID to the gatekeeper. "This woman is hurt.", he explained when the guard eyed Dawn curiously. "I'll take her to the doctor."

"I'll need her name to fill the papers for civilian patients.", the guard nodded. "And her ID."

"Buffy Summers.", Dawn replied with a weak shaking voice. "Here is the ID.", she put her hand into a pocket in her jacket, pretending she expected to find the ID there. "Oh, crap. I had to loose it when I fell down."

"We'll look for it after we make sure you're alright Buffy. It's no problem.", Richard Fulton assured her."Is it soldier?", he gave the gatekeeper a stern look. 

"No Sir.", the guard quickly agreed. He didn't want to get into any kind of trouble, especially with people from SGC. "You may pass."

Fulton brought his car to stop close to the entrance to emergency, so that Dawn wouldn't have to walk too far and Dawn asked him if he could find a doctor who doesn't have to take care of other patients an the moment. Fulton agreed, letting Dawn rest on a seat close to the offices and left to look for someone who could examine her. Dawn used this time to return to the jeep, take the military outfit out of her bag and carefully hid it inside a nearby toilet, making sure nobody saw her. She noticed the lavatories were placed between corridors and could be accessed from two sides, which was an advantage she planned to use later. Fulton returned with a doctor who took Dawn to make X-ray of her hurt arm and head. Later a nurse bandaged her arm after she had cleaned the wounds, while the pictures were developed. Of course Dawn was aware they won't find any broken bones so she enjoyed the waiting, talking with the nurse about life in Colorado. 

The doctor soon returned with the results, assuring Dawn all her bones were perfectly intact, but she still asked her to rest and avoid strain. Dawn thanked the kind woman for her help, pretending she was ready to leave and the doctor called Richard Fulton to escort her out of the hospital and drive her home.

"I need to ...", Dawn stopped when they were passing the toilet where she hid her second clothes. It was time to follow her plan. Now she had to persuade the soldier she needed to spend the next fifteen minutes in the lavatory, without being disturbed.

"What's wrong?", Fulton asked.

"Well ... I have to ... you know ... few days in the month ...", Dawn blushed, motioning to the toilets, trying to create the feeling the situation was really embarrassing for her.

"Oh! ... I'm sorry. Of course ...", the brave soldier babbled. "You want me to get one from the doc?"

"I already asked the nurse.", Dawn showed him a box with tampons, disappearing inside the lavatory. As soon as the door closed behind her, she rummaged out the military uniform, quickly changed and left the room on the opposite side, heading to Dr.West's office. She found him soon, still buried in his work and it brought her a strange pleasure to disturb him again.

"Dr.West. I'm Vanda Lipkin.", Dawn hoped the doctor had never seen the woman she pretended to be. "Dr. Fraiser asked me to bring her files about the refugees from P2X 586. I suppose one of our operators informed you?"

"Yes. I remember the annoying woman very well.", West nodded, giving the records to Dawn. "Please take the files about P1X 547 to Fraiser as well. Now if you don't mind I'd like to continue my work.", the doctor indicated in a very improper manner he didn't wish Dawn's company. 

"Thank you doctor.", Dawn didn't waste time and quickly left, ready to hurry back to the toilets when she heard a phone ring inside West's office.

"Dr.West.", Dawn heard from the room. "Yes doctor Fraiser I've already finished the test on the people from P1X 547. I've just given it to this ... Lipkin was her name, I think."

Dawn froze when she realized the person calling to West was Fraiser and started to panic. She was considering taking care of West before he'd alert the guards, but that would hardly help, because Fraiser would immediately call the security if their call was interrupted. It was clear her escape would now require a serious improvisation. "What do you mean you haven't sent anyone to our hospital?", was the last sentence of West's argument with the SGC medical commander Dawn heard before she broke into run towards the toilet where she left her civilian clothes. 

After she slipped out of the military outfit, Dawn put on her trousers and jacket and rushed into the corridor where she thought Fulton was still waiting for her, however before she reached the door, the sound of an alarm echoed through the halls. It wasn't very loud, probably because of the many patients in the hospital, but it was clear all soldiers in the building were now fully alert. When she got out of the room, Fulton was out of sight, probably trying to find out the reason for the security alarm. She walked towards the entrance, hoping to pass the distance between the building and the gate unnoticed.

"Here you are Buffy.", Fulton came to her when she left the emergency. Fortunately for Dawn, she managed to put the stolen files inside her bag before he noticed it. "I better take you some place safe before the guards will find out what's happening." 

Ok. No easy sneaking out alone, Dawn thought, watching the soldier who took her to the clinic. Time to create another distraction. "Can't we just leave?", Dawn beg him, making her voice as frightened and desperate as possible. "Please. That patient ..."

"I'm sorry.", Fulton gave her a soothing smile to comfort her. Why was she so scared? It was probably just a false alarm. "No one is allowed to leave during a security breech. We should go back inside now."

"I'm not going back inside until he's in there.", Dawn shook her head, her face trembling, but determined.

"What are you so afraid of?" , Richard Fulton couldn't understand why the woman in front of him seemed to be scared beyond words. "What's wrong with the patient?"

"I don't know!", Dawn cried, "He was talking with a doctor and suddenly his voice got so deep and then ... I know it sounds crazy but ... it was like his eyes were glowing!"

"Shit!", Fulton swore. "Hey you!", he shouted at the gatekeeper. "Come with me!" , he draw his gun and carefully opened the door leading inside, searching for any movement. Then he realized Dawn was still standing next to him. "Buffy run away and wait outside the complex for someone from SGC to pick you up. We might need you as a witness.", he advised her.

Dawn didn't have to be told twice. She grabbed her bag and hurried to the gate, without anyone to stop her. Mission successful, Dawn grinned. To get in and out had cost her only a few scratches and the necessity to change her hair color once more, because soon the soldiers will realize who the wounded woman in need really was. With the information about refugees on the passenger seat, Dawn rapidly left Colorado Springs.

---- 

After Daniel and Teal'c said their good bye to Buffy, they returned back to the conference room where Jack was talking about Dawn with Hammond and Sam. "I think Junior here could give us a better description of that slayer who is not a slayer." Jack told the others while Teal'c and Daniel were entering the room.

"I don't remember my symbiont ever giving me informations about slayers O'Neill."

"Not your Junior Teal'c. I mean my Junior." Jack explained.

"I had no idea you are carrying a symbiont." Teal'c answered surprised, not noticing John on the other side of the room.

"He means John. His clone." Sam informed Teal'c. "He didn't tell us much about her."

"Because I don't know anything else Carter. " John defended himself." And would someone finally tell me why is she so important?"

Jack gave Hammond a questioning look and the General nodded. "I'll give you the short version. A week ago General Hammond was replaced by General Bauer. We know it was organized by Kinsey. Bauer accidentally sent a naquadah bomb to a planet called Verona and it almost destroyed a whole civilization. The slayers took over SGC and warned us if something like that happens again we're on the slay list. That's why we have to find her before Kinsey because if something happens to her then we're screwed."

"Why don't you contact the slayers and try to explain to them it wasn't your fault?"

"They know it wasn't, that's why we're still alive." Jack informed his clone. "And we can't contact them because the slayers made it clear they don't give strangers their address after the first date."

"I'll help you to find her." John agreed. "But I want to know everything about slayers and I'll do it only under the condition SGC won't hurt her."

"Agreed.", the General nodded. "However we shouldn't forget that even though we definitely need to capture Dawn alive, we also mustn't allow an incident like the Spring's hospital happen again."

"I should personally beat the crap out of the two morons who let her enter.", Jack clenched his fists. "And that doctor West should be fired as well. I mean, why do we have all these security and authentication procedures when all she had to do was pretend she called from the mountain?"

"I told you she's smart.", John smirked at his older version.

"You came to that conclusion because of a nasty bulge on your head.", Jack tried to hush him.

"You don't get it, do you?", John faced his predecessor, angry they didn't take his opinion seriously. "Whatever her reason was to get inside the hospital and steal the files about those people from Apophis's worlds, she succeeded. We should find out why she came to this planet before she decides to continue her plan, because if it has something to do with the NID then we'll see many new graves in the near future and one of them will be her's."

---- 

Dawn has been waiting near the house where General Bauer was supposed to live for more then three hours, but none of the people entering or leaving the house belonged to Bauer's family according to the files in Vi's PDA. After she had left Colorado Springs, Dawn searched through the stolen records, but couldn't find any information that would indicate Buffy's presence on Tauri. Also the soldier she met had no idea who her sister was, so Dawn was quite sure Buffy wasn't on the planet anymore, that's why she decided to finish what Vi couldn't. Kill Bauer.

Using her binoculars, Dawn read the label on the letter box: Harting. Something was wrong, it seemed Bauer's family moved and she needed another way to find out where the General really lived. She couldn't just walk into the house and ask, because there was a high probability it's under surveillance by SGC. Fortunately she knew another way. At first Dawn drove to the nearest shop to buy a catalogue with local phone numbers and also detailed information about various companies and after she found what she needed, Dawn walked to a kiosk in abandoned street where no one would interrupt her. Unfortunately she couldn't find Bauer's phone number, the numbers of military generals were probably secret. Browsing the catalogue, Dawn noticed the telephone companies like Connection One didn't use number portability yet, which meant the Bauers had to change their number when they moved. Dawn dialed Mrs Harting, waited till she picked up and started talking without giving the woman a chance to introduce herself.

"Mrs Bauer, this is Amanda Cross from Connection One. May I ask if you had any problems with your..."

"You have a wrong number Miss." the woman cut in, "My name is Mrs. Harting."

"Oh, no. Not another one." Dawn sighed, trying to make her voice as frustrated and depressed as possible.

"Is there a problem Miss Cross?", Mrs. Harting was getting more and more confused by this call.

"I'm sorry, it's just...", Dawn started explaining her cover story."...we installed a new database system and yesterday it broke down and we lost all new records so we had to reload the old database and now we're checking all numbers of our clients. I'm really sorry I didn't explain it right in the beginning. It's just that our team has been up since four this morning, correcting the mistakes and the boss keeps yelling at us like it's our fault the system doesn't work properly. Your number is attached to the name Bauer in the old records. I guess they don't live there anymore?"

"No, the family sold us this house two weeks ago and moved to a small town somewhere near Denver. I don't know where exactly they live now."

That's a pity, Dawn thought. If the woman knew Bauer's new address, it would make the situation much more simple for Dawn. Now she'd have to make a risky step and ask if Mrs. Harting doesn't remember their phone number.

"But I know their phone number." Mrs. Harting added. She wanted to help the young Miss Cross. Mrs. Harting used to work as an accountant when she was younger and she knew exactly how stressing a job with a shirty boss can be. "I wrote it down, because Mrs. Bauer said she'll hire a transport company to bring her some of the heavier furniture. They decided to leave most of their stuff here though and buy a completely new equipment in Denver. The number is 87 326 415 784."

"Thank you so much." Dawn smirked, writing down the reason of her call. "You saved me a lot of trouble." Mrs. Harting gave her even more information then Dawn hoped for. So Bauers will hire a transport company? She already knew how to use it.

"I'm glad I could help you." Mrs. Harting smiled, happy she could save the poor worker long hours of searching. "I hope you'll find everything you need."

"Me too.", Dawn agreed. "Thank's again for the number."

"You're welcome." Mrs. Harting hung up and Dawn dialed the number she gave her after searching for additional information in the catalogue. The second step was to find out Bauer's address.

"Mrs. Bauer.", Dawn heard a pleasant female voice.

"Mrs.Bauer, this is Rebecca Milton from Walter's delivery." Dawn made up another name to create an operator in the transport company. "May I interest you with the offer of our services?"

"I'm sorry dear, but I don't like this telemarketing thing. I guess I'm too old fashioned." Mrs.Bauer wanted to hung up, uninterested in whatever this girl was offering.

"Oh, I'm not trying to sell you anything Mrs.Bauer.", Dawn assured her. "Walter's delivery is the most renowned transport company in Colorado and we'd like to offer you the possibility to register. We ship anything up to ten tons within 24 hours and when the destination is bellow 100 miles then within twelve hours. All transported items are insured and we pay 100 percent of the original prize in case anything is damaged plus 300 dollars as compensation. Whatever you need to bring to your house or get rid of all you have to do is to register and call us."

Transport company? That caught Mrs.Bauer's interest. Perhaps she could book the delivery of the two cupboards they left in their old house."How much does it cost to enrol?"

"The registration is free of course.", Dawn informed her. "And all customers get 10 percent discount for the first three deliveries. All required information are your phone number, which we already know and your address." 

"Ok then." Mrs.Bauer agreed. "I'd like to deliver two cupboards from Colorado Springs, Marker Street 10 to Oaksville South Street 25. The woman's name in Springs is Mrs. Harting and she'll show your people what to take."

"Oaksville, South, 25.", Dawn repeated. "Thank you Mrs.Bauer for choosing our company. Your delivery should arrive probably next morning between ten and eleven AM. Have a nice day Mrs.Bauer." 

"You too Rebecca.", Mrs.Bauer smiled, saying goodbye, hung up her phone and left to take care of her garden. What a lucky coincidence, she thought, to get a call from a transport company exactly in the moment she needed it.

Dawn put the receiver down very slowly, glad the call was over, because she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep up without blowing her cover. Mrs.Bauer seemed like a very nice person who probably had no idea about the General's crimes and this was the first time Dawn really realized what she was planning. A murder of her husband. She still had time to turn back, forget the stupid revenge and ... then what? Die during sneaking into some SGC base in a useless attempt to get her ship back? Why is always everything so complicated. Instead of landing near Colorado Springs and rescuing Buffy, she had to fight Jaffa in a Ha'tak, lose one of her few friends, ship-wreck the Pel'tak, get kidnapped by NID, meet John, which was actually a good thing, because he helped her to escape, but it wasn't enough to tip the scale. 

Dawn braced herself up, forgetting her doubts. She will finish what she started. Now Dawn had to make one more call to cover her tracks. She picked up the phone once more and dialed, putting a napkin in front of her mouth, hoping it would make her voice sound older.

"Welcome to Walter's delivery.", a young female voice greeted her. "How can I help you?"

"My name is Jessica Bauer." Dawn pretended to be the General's wife. "I would like to register and book a delivery...

**The next day, Oaksville**

Dawn carefully continued walking through the park that was in the suburban district of Oaksville and near Bauer's house. The place was almost empty because it was nine in the morning and the most people were at work or at school, Dawn's only companions were pigeons pecking up what the humans abandoned during the early hours.

Dawn stopped behind a beech, not more then two hundred meters from Bauer's house and took out her binoculars, but before she had time to use them somebody grabbed her from behind and started dragging her away from Bauer's residence. Dawn didn't hesitate and used her nails on the attacker's arm to weaken his grip, then she got hold of his arm and toss him over her shoulder. Dawn wanted to continue her counterattack but stopped once she realized who her assailant was.

"What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass because you helped me save mine." John explained while he was standing up. "Forget about Bauer."

"He has to pay." Dawn stated, not ready to give up so easily. "And you can't stop me."

"I won't try to stop you." John shook his head. "But the five SG teams and about forty NID agents will. You can't see them but they're hidden all around Bauer's house and waiting for you to make a move. It wasn't so hard to guess why you came to this planet. Also next time when you pretend to be a operator of a local transport company I suggest using real names of their workers."

"If you knew what he did, you would understand that I can't just walk away."

"I know exactly what he did." John informed Dawn, who didn't even try to hide her surprise. "And if I could I would kill him myself but right now is getting closer then 150 meters from his house a suicide." John took Dawn's hand and they both headed to the other side of the park. "You should get out of this planet while you still can."

"You know without a ship leaving could prove a little problematic." Dawn sighed.

"Yeah. I heard it's in area 51. No chance to get inside that complex without at least an Abrams." John agreed. "What about your transmitter?"

"I'm too far to communicate with our base so the chance it is ... active!" Dawn saw the signalling of an incoming transmission.

"Dawn. This is Willow. Are you all right?"

"Yes! Where are you?" Dawn asked, happy to hear the familiar voice.

"In a transport ship in the low orbit of Tauri. I'll reach your position in about two minutes." Willow informed Dawn.

"You better hurry." Dawn blurted out when she saw what John's arm was pointing at. These guys possessed the ability to show up in the worst possible moment imaginable. "Are those vans what I think they are?"

"NID." John nodded. "Come on. We have to get you to safety until your ship arrives."

The two of them started running towards the end of the park. It seemed the two vans didn't want to follow them through the park and just stopped in front of it. John swore when he saw eight men dressed in dark blue outfits jump out of the vans and start chasing them.

"I didn't belive I would ever say that, but right now I would like someone from SGC to be here." Dawn admitted. "Can't you call them?"

John shook his head. "I didn't take a cell phone because they would use it to follow me."

Dawn and John resumed sprinting and almost reached the park's other end when they saw another blue van on the road in front of them. John looked around nervously. They both knew they were trapped.

"Go! I'll try to slow them down." John shouted at Dawn.

"How? You're not even armed." Dawn refused and prepared for a fight. Though the NID agents were still more then hundred meters away, their destination was decreasing with every second. All of a sudden the air above them shimmered as transport ship decloaked right over their heads.

"Need a lift?" Dawn heard Willow's voice from the transmitter "You're lucky I found Vi's message sooner than I was supposed to."

"Great timing!" Dawn smiled but stopped when she realized John had no chance to escape. From the expression on his face he knew it too. "Come with me." Dawn offered.

"What?"

"You said you'd do anything to join the fight against the Goa'uld once more. I'm giving you the chance. Or do you want to spend the next years in a laboratory?"

John looked at Dawn and then back at the approaching agents. He didn't hesitate for long and nodded. Dawn told Willow to activate the rings and they both transported to the ship, leaving their pursuers who got into cover as soon as the Pel'tac appeared. Willow cloaked the ship anew and headed away from the planet at full speed, because she wasn't ready to risk Tauri try to fire blind and launch rockets to bring them down. After they reached the orbit she entered the Earth's coordinates and jumped into hyperspace.

Jack got out of the third blue van, watching the place where his clone and Dawn had disappeared one minute before, followed by Teal'c and eight other members of SGC dressed as NID agents. Jack took out his cell phone and called Hammond."Looks like she bought it."

End chapter.

A/N: Well, did you enjoy Dawn's spy stuff? In case you did tell me, because I'm thinking about doing a chapter about Dawn versus NID that would take place in the middle of Hide and Seek. I case you wonder why Dawn couldn't find Buffy's records, the answer is because her doctor had sent them to St.Paul in Behind the Lines.


	17. First Impressions

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 16 - First Impressions

**January 2005,somewhere near Earth **

Dawn was sitting near one of the ship's windows, looking in silence at the wide range of colors that were created in hyperspace. Why did she have the feeling she was giving up? She went to Tauri to find her sister and she failed. Dawn didn't even manage to find out if the refugee she was looking for was really Buffy. Dawn believed it was her, only because the woman called herself Joan and looked similar to her sister. John's description of the woman wasn't accurate and Dawn didn't want John to know that the real reason for visiting his planet was her sister. Dawn gave a slight sigh. She was supposed to storm the SGC and demand answers, not run away after the first sign of trouble. At least she saved John from the NID.

"So where exactly are we going?" John asked. They didn't talk much during the trip and he was curious about Dawn's planet.

"Earth."

"Earth?" John wondered. Did they realize he had been sent to them as a spy and wanted to get rid of him? "We just left it! I know I didn't take my toothbrush but..." He tried to hide his uneasiness by a lame joke.

"Our Earth." Dawn explained. "We call our planet Earth as well."

"You're kidding right?"

"I'm not. If you're surprised so much just by the name then...wait a minute...I promised something to Andrew when Will talked with Giles."Dawn took out a camera and started to film him. "...I want to see the reaction when you hear we have United States."

John's eyes widened and he kept on staring at Dawn with his mouth opened and unable to react for several seconds before he managed to answer. "Now I know you're making fun of me."

Dawn stopped the camera and smirked enjoying every moment of John's confusion. "Exactly what I expected. Andrew will be proud. Now I have my first Tauri Home Video!" Dawn paused. "Except the fact I filmed it in the orbit of another planet and I'm not Tauri, and you're a clone created by an Asguard, and this camera has Goa'uld technology upgrades."

"So let me get this straight. Your planet is Earth and you have United States."

"And Pizza, flush toilets, drugs, ignorant secret government operations and corrupted politicians. All the good stuff. The shape and position of our continents is a little different but other then that our worlds are almost identical. We didn't have time yet to find out how is it possible. Andrew has this higher-power-controlling-the-human-evolution theory, Willow and Giles think it's some kind of spell but I personally think someone up there screwed up. We have something your planet doesn't though."

"And what would that be?" John asked thinking about the two Earths concept. Was the other planet a future version of his world? He remembered that continents slowly change shape in the course of centuries from one of his Geography lessons during which he accidentally happened to be awake.

"Demons." Dawn shrugged. "Vampires. Werewolves. Witches. "

"All those creatures you talk about are just myths Dawn." John shook his head. "I wouldn't expect someone in your age to believe in them. Especially since you're a soldier."

"One of these myths is running a law firm in L.A." Dawn chuckled. "And talking about witches, who do you think is flying this ship? You better accept the weird or you'll be eaten before we get you a new toothbrush."

"We're almost there." Willow informed John and Dawn."Faith had sent a message that she'll arrive in the same time as we do." Willow turned to Dawn ."If I were you I'd try to avoid her. She wasn't very enthused about your mission, though I'm sure she didn't mean 'I'll tear her in two.' literally. She'll probably just ask me to send you to Quortoth for the next decade."

"Makes me feel much better." Dawn mumbled. "You still didn't tell me why are we and Faith heading to Earth. Is there a problem?"

"I doubt it's something serious." Willow shrugged. "The most dangerous mission for Giles in the last month was the rivalry between two training groups after one of them had put a laxative into the other group's soup and then installed a camera on their toilets and connected it with the screens in the main hall."

"Let me guess. Linda's group?" Dawn laughed. "I hope they recorded it."

"They were supposed to erase everything." Willow disappointed Dawn. "Anyway the situation on Earth has been really quiet the last few months. Giles thinks it's because the word got out about the existence of so many slayers and the demons moved to less populated areas." Willow paused. "We're here."

The transport ship slowly landed in front of the main entrance of the manor and Dawn, John and Willow got out. As soon as they entered the house a ring transport activated in front of them and Faith appeared. She gave Dawn an angry look and obviously wanted to say something to Dawn but she started looking around instead. Willow and the others soon realized why Faith ignored them. There were slayers running in all directions in the main hall, clearly getting ready for a mission. The problem was the preparations were incredibly chaotic and no group seemed to know what exactly they were supposed to do. Faith noticed Giles talking with Shannon on the other side of the hall and headed towards him, Willow and the others followed.

"Giles!" Faith tried to get Rupert's attention. "Is this what you and Rona call 'Everything's fine.' ? Cause that's what you told me two days ago! What is this chaos? Where is Rona?"

Giles finally noticed the group behind him and turned to face them. "Rona is dead."

**Meanwhile forty kilometers away from the manor**

An almost two meters high dark brown demon carried a woman's motionless body in his claw-like hands towards the middle of their village, which was hidden in an ash forest far enough from human settlements to remain unnoticed. He dropped the young afroamerican in front of their wizard and growled to get his attention.

The medicine-man turned to the dead slayer and nodded. "Excellent. This will make the spell work even faster." He took a knife and cut into Rona's right arm above the wrist. Then he placed a cup under the wound and let the blood flow into it.

"We need to hurry." The demon who brought Rona reminded his leader. "The slayers will certainly attack before the sunset."

"Their attempt to stop us was foolish." The wizard spited out. "But you're right. We need to be prepared to hold them back before the portal opens. Tell the others I need four hours to finish."

The wizard saw the member of his clan leave and continued the preparations of the ritual. The cup was already full of the slayer's blood and he started to mix it with an eagle's talon and a snake's eye. The air around him began to vibrate, cracking of electricity could be heard and small lightnings began to appear around the cup. The wizard laughed. Soon he and his people will join the other clans and the slayers will never be a problem again.

----

After Faith calmed down a little and stopped yelling at Giles and everyone else who had the bad luck to be near her, she started to organize the various groups of slayers into effective teams while talking to Giles about what happened to Rona. She still couldn't believe that he and the other slayers knew there was a demon village not more than fifty kilometers away from the manor and they didn't bother to do something about it.

"The Gur'dar are usually a very friendly and peaceful race." Giles tried to explain. "They don't kill or fight humans and never leave their forest. Even the Council tolerated them and that's saying a lot."

"Then perhaps you want to explain to me why your 'exemplar goodies' demons are killing slayers and why Rona's team even tried to sneak into their settlement." Faith snapped at him.

"Yesterday we received a warning from a seer in the Coven that Gur'dar are preparing a dimensional portal. Nobody wanted to believe these demons would try to bring an apocalypse so Rona took three other slayers and went to find out their intentions."

"And it got her killed." Faith gritted her teeth. "I want thirty slayers, seventeen or older, no beginners. Willow will prepare the antidote against Gur'dar poison. I expect everyone to be ready in one hour."

"We should research the situation more before we start making hasty decisions." Giles objected. "We've no idea what to expect and the fastest way to prepare the antidote takes at least three hours."

"Time for prep talks is over." Faith declared with a voice that didn't allow any further objections. "It's simple. They killed. They die."

"Faith I don't want anything to happen to you or anyone else. You're rushing into a fight without knowing neither what you'll face nor why. You're making the same mistakes as Buffy and I won't allow you to..."

"I'm not HER! " Faith yelled. "And B didn't listen to you long before she got lost. Why do you think she chose Antara, while you stayed on Earth? She didn't want you to doubt each of her decisions and neither do I. "

Giles raised his voice, but managed to control himself. "I'm still the head of this part of SWC. I could stop this mission."

Faith came closer to Giles until her face was only several inches away from his own."Is this what it's ? "Faith whispered."How many do you think would chose your side instead of mine?" Faith turned away from the speechless Giles and left to Willow and Dawn, who already started cooking the antidote.

Faith picked two younger slayers and pointed her arm at John."Watch him while we'll be gone. Don't let him leave the manor."

"No way!" Dawn disagreed. "I promised him he can come with us."

"I'm not a baby sitter and we're not going there for sightseeing. You want him to come along? Then he's your burden. " Faith snapped at Dawn and left to a group of SITs.

"She's usually not so bitchy." Dawn assured John. "But as you can see we have a little problem here. An apocalypse caused by an army of demons coming through a dimensional portal is completely uncommon ... in January. The ends of the world have a strict schedule here and the Gur'dar are four months ahead of it. How good are you with a sword? "

"I've tried a wide range of weapons while training with Teal'c, but I don't see why we don't take your Goa'uld equipment and blast these guys away."

"Beheading is the only way to kill a Gur'dar." Dawn explained. "Bullets or ASWs just make them angry. You'll also have to take an antidote, because their claws are filled with poison."

"Yeah. That mixture smells like a ten-months-not-cleaned slaughterhouse. What exactly is inside?"

"You don't want to know." Dawn tried to relieve John's curiosity. On the other hand she wondered how he'll react when he discovers the ingredients.

"Dawn I've been black ops for twenty years. There is no food in the galaxy that could scare me." John sounded absolutely sure of himself.

"Rat's livers mixed with a sheep's urinary bladder." Dawn smirked."And garlic."

One short look at John face would be enough to recognize how fast he changed the opinion about his previous statement. "There is no way I'm eating it."

"Then I guess you're staying here." Dawn shrugged and turned to Andrew who was coming to them with enthusiasm written on his face. "Andrew. I made the record."

"Excellent!" Andrew's mood got even better. "Now we've saved the first steps of a dark warrior on his path towards redemption for the generations to come." Andrew's facial expression changed into an example of deep understanding." I know how it is to walk this path and I'll be glad to show you our Palace of Light. Don't worry, the light is waiting for you at the end of the tunnel."

"You don't eat the antidote, you're staying here with Andrew." Dawn grinned. "Have fun!"

"Rat's livers huh?" John reconsidered his position. "Sounds great."

"Good choice." Dawn nodded. "Otherwise we couldn't take you with us. Rat's livers and sheep's urinary bladder are the fastest way to prepare the antidote."

"And what about the garlic?"

"Better taste." Dawn shrugged.

**Three hours later, close to the demon village**

Six jeeps stopped at the outskirts of the forest and thirty slayers together with Faith, Dawn, Willow and John got out, most of them carrying swords and axes. Faith didn't really expect bigger problems, but in case of trouble, there was also a cloaked Alkesh hovering above the group and ready to wipe out the whole forest.

John was walking next to Dawn, holding the sword she had lent him, his face still a pure picture of disgust from swallowing the antidote. "You know I think I finally discovered what was Carter cooking when we were at P3 X254."

"Wait till you try one of Faith's spaghetti experimentations." Dawn chuckled. "They redefine the meaning of the word daintiness."

"Dawn you better shut up about Faith's cooking skills until your own abilities surpass boiling eggs and sausages." Willow gave Dawn a blaming look. "And perhaps we could put off this discussion until we, let's say , stop an apocalypse?"

Dawn and John nodded and they all followed Faith's group. It didn't take long and they came to the periphery of the village. The sun already almost reached the horizon which meant they didn't have much time, because according to the seer the portal would open during nightfall. Faith noticed a few guards watching the surroundings of the village and sent two slayers to each of them. After they got rid of the guards the main group continued to the small wooden buildings where they expected the ritual to take place. What Faith didn't see were about twenty demons slowly encircling them and just when she wanted to give the order to attack, all hell broke lose.

John was shocked and unable to react when he saw a two meters high demon run at him. Then the soldier part of his character kicked in and he tried to use his sword to block the demon's punch, but it was too late. He felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder, when the Gur'dar's claws sank into the flesh. He managed to plunge his sword into the creature's stomach but the demon just laughed and hit him again. John let go of his weapon and fell to the ground, seeing the Gur'dar stand above him. However the demon never got the chance to finish him, because another sword whizzed through the air and his head fell right into John's arms.

"Rule number one." Dawn helped John to stand up. "Don't die!"

John thanked Dawn, picked up his own sword and overlooked the situation on the battle field. Most of the Gur'dar who jumped them were dead and Faith together with another two slayers almost reached the middle of the village, where a wizard was standing near a bonfire and mumbled in a language John couldn't recognize, protected by at least ten demons. The air behind the wizard was somehow getting thicker and bolts of lightnings emerged from nowhere. All of a sudden the lightnings disappeared. The demon growled and pointed his arm at something on John's left. John turned and realized what made the wizard so angry. Willow was standing not far away from John, her eyes and hair completely black and was using the same language as the demon. John had no idea what she was saying but he knew it blocked the creature's spell.

The wizard's guards rushed to Willow to stop her, but the slayers expected this move and were ready to protect her. Before the wizard had a chance to join the fray himself he heard a stick break behind him. He turned around to see Faith with her sword raised above her head and ready to end the fight. "Got a last word?"

"The balance is destroyed slayer. You'll never manage to restore it."

"Whatever." Faith shrugged and beheaded the leader.

The fight was soon over with no survivor on the demon side. Wilow and the others gave John and the wounded slayers the first aid and then headed back to the manor.

"So what's your first impression about our Earth?" Dawn wondered.

"You mean except finding out about about vampires and demons, witches and wizards and portals to different dimensions?" John replied. "I got almost killed by something I wouldn't believe exists yesterday! I like it here."

John watched the dark alley the jeeps were passing by when he felt a slight tingle in his left arm. The miniature Tok'ra transmitter the SGC had operated into the arm activated and began to send signals with the planet's location. John knew the sender will be active only for five minutes - just enough time for SGC to receive all necessary informations for using their computers to count the SWC's stargate address. John looked at Dawn, knowing that soon everything will change and his mission will be over. He just wasn't sure how he felt about it.

----

Dawn was walking through the manor's main hall, feeling tired and glad she can finally get some sleep. While she was passing Giles's office she noticed Willow inside and calling Dawn she should come in as well.

"We have a serious problem." Giles stated and closed the door behind Dawn, making sure no one would overhear their conversation.

"Is there a time we don't?" Dawn wondered.

"From the beginning I had found it very strange the Gur'dar would try to cause an apocalypse. They are a peaceful race, almost never fight and they prefer to avoid major battles between Good and Evil. That's why I studied the spell they used once more and found out it really opens a portal to a demon dimension, but you can travel only one way through this portal, from the place where you cast the spell. That means the Gur'dar didn't try to bring a demon army to our world. They wanted to escape from Earth."

End chapter.

Review please.


	18. Sides

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 17 - Sides

**January 2005,camp of the free Jaffa nation**

A small splinter of wood fell to the grass which covered the surroundings of the Jaffa's camp. In a few seconds it was joined by another one and in one minute there was a whole loaf of them. Buffy was sitting on a stump, holding a knife and fully concentrating on the piece of material in front of her. A simple form, yet an object of great significance. Finishing it was so important she refused to join Bra'tac and Ry'ak on their visit to SGC. She didn't know why she needed this piece of wood with a sharp end, but she was sure about it's purpose. It was a weapon.

Buffy studied her creation and frowned, wrinkles forming on her forehead. She remembered this strange weapon from a dream she had in Colorado. It was used to kill something inhuman. Something evil. Buffy put the stake into a holster on her right leg and returned to the gate where a lunch was prepared. She had hunted down a rilon the previous day and the meat from this almost hundred kilograms weighing animal will give them enough food for the whole week. Buffy knew she better be there in time. The others couldn't start eating until she was present because the rilon was her quarry and it would be rude to let them wait too long. As she approached the bonfire, the incomparable smell of roasted meat hit her keen senses. Buffy took a huge steak from the cook and officially started the feast.

Everyone was so busy with their meal that Buffy was the first to notice the gate's symbols have lit up and the wormhole established. Buffy instinctively reached for her staff weapon. She knew it was too soon for Bra'tac to return from Tauri. The other Jaffa took positions on her left and they all waited for the visitors to appear. Not three seconds later soldiers with an unknown symbol on their foreheads began to emerge from the event horizon and opened fire at Buffy's group. Buffy soon realized they were seriously outnumbered and run for cover to the nearby trees. The five Jaffa who were previously standing next to her didn't follow her example and tried to fight back without success. Other Jaffa hurried from the camp to help but the enemy was getting stronger with every second. There was already at least one hundred soldiers in front of the gate and others were still coming. Buffy knew Bra'tac had only thirty-six warriors in his group including her and with no ships to escape their chances to survive were insignificant. Still hidden behind a tree, she heard the enemy's leader shout at his men.

"Find the slayer!"

Buffy made no reaction for several seconds after this statement, but a keen observer would recognize some kind of change in her features. Her eyes narrowed and a long forgotten fire began to burn in them, her breathing became heavier, small drops of sweat started to appear all over her body and the blood in her veins felt like it was boiling. Buffy began to focus at the soldiers. Her enemies.

**Meanwhile, SGC**

General Hammond entered his office to find Jack already expecting him. Hammond sat down in his armchair and waited for the colonel to start their conversation.

"So how's Washington?" Jack wasn't sure how to begin. "Is the weather nice?"

"I talked to the president. Privately." Hammond paused and anyone would recognize he made an important decision. "Now that we know the location of the slayer's home world, the president ordered me to use this information to end the conflict and we are allowed to use any measures necessary. You know what it means Jack. Of course the president has officially nothing in common with this operation, that's why I was the one to make the necessary calls. Everything will be ready in a few hours and then I expect SG-1 to carry out this mission."

Jack nodded and gave a soft sigh. "You know general, I've been a soldier for my whole life and I've done many things I'll never be proud of, but this is pushing the boundaries even on my scale. It's not like I don't wish their death for what they did but no matter what will be written in our mission reports, in case we write any, a murder is a murder."

"Believe me I've been thinking the same thoughts on my way here. I came to SGC with certain principles I hold dear and now I'm asked to forget all of them. However we're not here to discuss the value of human lives, we're here to protect out planet and to follow orders, so I expect your team to be prepared in three hours. Dismissed."

Jack left Hammond's office and headed to his own. He called Carter and Daniel and gave them the informations he received from the general. Teal'c was currently in the gym with his son and Bra'tac and Jack decided he'll tell him the news later. He knew Teal'c will probably agree with the plan, so there was no reason to bother him right now. They still had several hours.

"There is another problem Sir." Carter put her laptop on Jack's table and showed him the coordinates they received from his clone. "I compared this location with the Tok'ra celestial map and according to the map, there is no solar system on this address."

"The Tok'ra can't make a decent plan of their own headquarters. No wonder there are mistakes in the map of the whole galaxy." Jack gave out his opinion." Or are you going to tell me a new solar system appeared out of nowhere?"

"No Sir." Carter shook her head. "You're right, it's probably just a mistake in the map."

"Well then I suggest you all get some rest before we leave." Jack addressed his team. Daniel and Carter agreed and left to their own rooms while Jack went to inform Teal'c.

**Meanwhile, Council's manor, Earth**

John left the room he was assigned to and went to the bathroom. He felt a strange lassitude since the breakfast and it was getting worse with every minute. He took off his T-shirt and studied the wound he got the previous day during the fight with a Gur'dar. The injury itself was covered by a bandage but he noticed green trails spreading from his shoulder to other parts of his body. "This can't be good."

John left the bathroom and walked towards a room on the ground floor the SWC used as an infirmary. He noticed he now had problems to go straight forward and his legs refused to follow his lead. The only explanation was the poison the demons carried in their claws but how was it possible? He ate the damned antidote!

Dawn was talking to Giles in the infirmary and was changing bandages on one of the more seriously injured slayers when she saw John enter the room. He was barely able to keep his body from falling to the ground and as soon as he reached a bed he let himself drop on it. His whole arm and shoulder were covered with green demon skin and his eyes were turning green as well.

"Giles!" Dawn shouted and ran to John who was shaking on the bed. "What's happening with him?"

Giles needed only one short look to recognize the symptoms. "It's the Gur'dar poison."

"But he took the antidote!" Dawn took John head into her hands and made him look at her. "Did you eat antidote?"

John summoned all strength he had left and nodded. Then he closed his eyes and lost consciousness.

"Maybe he needs more!" Dawn tried keep herself from panicking. "I'll make more."

Dawn was ready to run and get the necessary supplies but Giles stopped her."Dawn. There is nothing you can do for him. This type of antidote works only if you take it before the poison."

"No!" Dawn looked at John and then back at Giles. "There is always another way. You've studied the Gur'dar. Tell me how I can help him!"

Giles took of his glasses and began to clean them. It was a ritual he never left out when he faced a problem. "The only way to heal him under these circumstances is the blood of a close person. A family member or a very good friend."

"But all his friends are on Tauri! " Dawn objected. "Can't we use someone else?"

"I'm afraid not. If the emotional bond between the donor and the victim isn't strong enough then they both die."

Dawn nodded and stood up. "I need to talk to Faith."

Dawn run to Faith's office and hoped she will listen to her. She entered the room and found Faith reading some book with mission reports. Dawn closed the door behind her so no one would disturb them.

"Faith I need to go to Tauri." Dawn blurted out. "John is poisoned and we need the blood of his friends. I think I should go myself. I feel responsible for bringing him into this situation."

Faith took a deep breath and slammed the book she was reading on the table. In the first moments Faith doubted Dawn was serious but one look into her eyes told her enough. Faith still couldn't believe the girl in front of her is really such an arrogant fool. Vi was dead because of her and she has the nerve to come here and demand THIS?

"You know I hoped Willow or perhaps Giles will have this conversation with you but it looks like I'm the lucky one." Faith tried to keep herself under control. "You want to go to Tauri? Let me tell you something, you've already ran out of the tickets to Tauri for the next hundred years. You went there for an insane mission, based on a blurry photo to find your sister but instead of Buffy you brought here your new boy-toy. You've lost a ship and one of the strongest and most experienced slayers is dead!"

"John's not..."

"I'm not finished!" Faith raised her voice. "You know vital informations about Earth and Antara and by getting captured you put the lives of everyone on both planets in danger. You feel responsible? I don't think you even know the meaning of that word so now get out of this room and be glad you're still part of this operation."

Dawn left Faith's office with a narky expression and headed to the infirmary. Was what Faith just said true? Was she responsible for Vi's death? Dawn decided to go to Tauri because she wanted to find her sister and if she had the chance to turn back time and choose again her decision would be the same. Dawn knew she messed up on Tauri. Taking John with her maybe wasn't the best idea but he was here now and he was poisoned. Was it her fault? Perhaps. Now only the blood of a close person could heal him. 'Someone with a strong emotional bond to the victim.' echoed in her mind. 'If the link between the donor and the victim isn't strong enough then they both die.' Dawn entered the infirmary, went to John's bed and sat next to him.

"No one else will die because of me." Dawn took out her knife and cut into her wrist. She put her arm above John's lips and let the blood flow into his mouth. She felt suddenly weaker, her arms and legs were getting heavier, she barely had the strength to keep her eyes opened. Dawn saw her veins turning green and her skin hardening. The process was becoming more and more painful and Dawn screamed when the green blood reached her eyes. Both Dawn and John's body began to shake violently and Dawn felt the poison take over. She gave up fighting the tedium and lost consciousness.

----

John woke up and realized the pain's gone. The wound on his shoulder was completely healed and he didn't feel the poison anymore. He stood up and noticed Giles and Willow were taking care of another patient. It was Dawn.

John rushed to Dawn's bed. "What happened to her?"

Giles turned around and John had the first opportunity to see the ripper side of his character. John was sure he would tear him to shreds if he had the time, but Giles didn't even bother to answer and just ignored John.

"She gave her blood to heal you. " Willow informed him with an expression that wasn't much more welcoming than Giles's. "She risked her life to save you. I really hope you're worth it."

John was unable to look Willow directly in the eyes. How would she react if she knew? He went to Dawn's bed and gave Dawn a gentle kiss on her forehead. It didn't take him long time to make a decision. He took Dawn's knife from the table and a bandage and left to the toilets nearby. He locked the door behind him to make sure he won't be disturbed and striped off his shirt. John put the knife where the Tok'ra transmitter was situated and started cutting. The sender wasn't very deep but it took a lot of concentration to find it anyway. He unintentionally cut through a vein and the outgoing blood soon covered his whole forearm. Finally he managed to cut the flesh around the transmitter from three sides and he lift off the skin that covered it. He used his fingers to take it out and then he put the lifted skin back into it's place. He washed away the blood, used the bandage to dress the wound and then he laid the transmitter down on the floor and used the hilt of Dawn's knife to smash it to thousand pieces.

John left the toilets and returned to Willow ready to make the next step. He knew SG-1 will soon appear on the planet. "Willow I need to..."

John was interrupted by a slayer that ran into the room and shouted at Giles and Willow." Tauri are in the warehouse! Faith needs you!"

'Too late.' John thought and followed Giles and Willow to the nearest ring transport which took them to the warehouse. He saw his former team standing next to a MALP in front of the stargate unarmed and obviously unable to move and about ten slayers aiming the ASWs at them. Willow went to a bright white crystal near the gate and touched it. The slight white light that previously surrounded SG-1 disappeared and they regained their ability to move.

"Speak." Faith snapped at Jack still aiming at him.

"Our both nations are undergoing a great struggle..." Jack desperately tried to remember the speech he was supposed to learn. "...that could lead to... Oh, let's forget the crap. You're fighting against the Goa'uld. We're fighting against the Goa'uld. It would be better to fight together. "

"You are offering cooperation? I don't remember dying my hair blonde."

"Of course we're ready to accept your demands." Daniel added.

Faith was considering the offer. She knew the SWC needed help but there was no way she'd let the Tauri get away with what they did so easily. They messed up so they'll have to make the first step."There is only one thing." Faith gritted her teeth. "I want those responsible for Verona executed. Then we can talk."

"General. Their demands are exactly what we expected." Jack said into his transmitter, then switched it off and turned his attention back to Faith.

"Consider it done."

----

Two snipers (one in Denver and one in Washington) hired by one of Hammond's friends received the message their mission was acknowledged. Hidden on roofs near the buildings where their targets lived, they loaded their rifles, aimed and fired. Both shots hit the hearts of their victims with exquisite accuracy and both snipers sent the same message back to SGC: Mission successful. General Bauer and senator Kinsey were dead.

End chapter.

A/N Well. They're not the best friends, but the conflict between slayers and SGC is over.

Review please.


	19. Slayer

Rating:R

Chapter 18 - Slayer

**January 2005, three light years away from Tauri**

A gray-haired man woke up on a gold metal bed in the control room of a mothership. In the beginning he was completely perplexed about what happened to him but he slowly started to remember the events of the previous hours and instinctively reached to his chest to assure himself he was really healed. The man noticed he was still wearing the same clothes he put on ten minutes before the moment that he expected to be the last of his existence in this world. He stood up and went without a hint of hesitation or fear to the dark figure waiting for him.

Anubis stopped studying the informations about the System Lords and turned to his ally."You are probably asking yourself why I bothered to save your pathetic existence and wasted the energy of a sarcophagus to bring you back to this world."

Kinsey was used to this kind of attitude and it didn't affect his own arrogant behavior. "Actually I know the answer. You need the blood from both parts of the Key or the set of artifacts you are assembling will be only a nice dining room decoration and I happen to have it. "

"The both Earths want to create an alliance. That's unacceptable. You were supposed to prevent their cooperation and you failed."

Kinsey didn't seem to be bothered by this information and just smirked. "My father always told me to be prepared for anything and it's interesting how this unexpected turn of events actually makes my plan easier. I take for granted your scientists managed to modify the device I gave you. "

"The device is ready." Anubis nodded and a Jaffa standing nearby gave Kinsey a small package. "Don't forget it needs to be recharged after twelve hours. If you fail this time I'll make sure no one will bring you back again."

Kinsey fought down his temperament and bowed. Twelve hours were much more than he hoped for. Now the power he wanted since he had become a politician was within his grasp. He didn't care about Anubis's threats. The only thing that occupied his mind at the moment was the small alien equipment he was holding in his hand. The instrument of his revenge.

**Meanwhile, Earth **

Willow returned from the conference with SG-1 and general Hammond and headed to the infirmary to check up Dawn's condition. She saw John sitting on a chair next to Dawn's bed, holding her hand and carefully waiting for any indication she'd wake up. Willow muttered a transparency charm and the left sleeve of John's shirt disappeared. John immediately tried to hide the exposed wound but it was useless. Willow approached him,examined his arm and nodded. "That's a good start."

"You know about the transmitter?"

"It seems your friends mean to be honest this time. They told us why you came here." Willow waited for John's reaction but it seemed he expected SG-1 to reveal their plan so she continued. "You're free to stay, but don't think the others will accept you as easy as I did."

"I thought you'll get rid of me as soon as you find out." John fetched a sight of relief. Are they really going to let him stay? Perhaps he underestimated Willow and her friends after all. He didn't care much about the opinion of slayers. The only person he wanted to persuade about his intentions and about the fact he came to this Earth to help the both sides was lying next to him. Dawn's bravery and determination to find her sister made a huge impression on him and even though he would never admit it, she was the reason why he agreed to help SGC in the first place. Wasn't he falling for her? John mentally slapped himself. She's too young! His own looks didn't exactly match the age of his mind and it still felt weird to date a teenager. That's why he didn't have a girlfriend back in Denver. Or was it because the only thing the girls he dated thought about were clothes and shoes? Maybe it was time to forget the old life and really start anew but his situation was complicated enough even without a relationship.

"If we kicked out everyone who has ever made a mistake, this house would be emptier then a synagogue in the middle of China town." A sad expression suddenly filled Willow's face as she remembered her own actions in the past and her voice softened. "In fact I wouldn't be here to explain this."

Willow gave John a reassuring smile and turned her attention to Dawn. "I hoped she'd be awake by now. I showed a picture of Buffy to SG-1 and it looks like they know where her sister is. Faith is going with SG-1 and Bra'tac to pick her up."

John hesitated if he should join SG-1's search for Dawn's sister. It would be nice to go to a mission with his former team once more, but he decided against it. He'd better keep a save distance between him and Faith and he didn't want to miss the moment when Dawn wakes up. This mission will be probably boring anyway.

**Later, Jaffa's camp **

As soon as the gate deactivated behind SG-1, Bra'tac and Faith they all noticed something was wrong. It was clear the camp had been under attack only few hours ago. There were bodies of dead Jaffa lying everywhere and Bra'tac immediately recognized those who belonged to his group. Jack however was disturbed by something else. If there had been a battle, where was the winner? A Jaffa would at least take the weapons of their opponents but the corpses still carried all their equipment. Jack backed a few steps and was still looking for a potential threat when he felt drops of a liquid fall at his shoulder. Because the sky was clear without a single cloud Jack made a mental note to kill the insolent bird responsible for ruining his uniform and took out a handkerchief to clean it.

"Everybody take cover!" Jack yelled at the others as soon as he saw what was the liquid on his shoulder. Blood. He turned around and saw two legs tied upside-down to the gate. Jack realized why the blood was still dripping from the wounds. Someone had to tie the whole body to the gate and when it activated the whirl swallowed most of it, leaving only the bottom half of the legs. Jack fought down the urge to vomit and looked around once more, this time focusing on the dead soldiers. Those who were close to the gate died from staff blasts but most of them were killed a much different way. He saw three Jaffa impaled on their own staff weapons. Another soldier had his arm cut off together with most of his shoulder. One had a wooden stake stick in his neck and another's head was practically ripped off his body. Whoever killed them had to posses incredible strength. Jack noticed the others from his group were as shocked as he was except Faith who kneeled next to one of the corpses and looked like she was watching something familiar.

"I say we ask Hammond for reinforcement." Jack suggested and his team agreed. None of them was eager to face the origin of the massacre.

"Whoever sent those Jaffa will soon realize his plan failed and this place will promptly be swarming with his warriors." Faith objected and threw away all her equipment besides her knife and a zat gun. "I'll try to get Buffy. You'll stay here and if I don't come back in twenty minutes I suggest you nip off."

Jack opened his mouth to protest but this time was Teal'c faster. "I think the chance to succeed is higher if we all search for Joan. Also I don't see why you believe she survived."

"Take a look around big guy. All these snake juniors thought they will succeed and they got their ass kicked. I'm going alone."

Teal'c and Daniel wanted to object but Jack stopped them."For all I care she can get herself killed. I'm not going to venture the lives of my team because of a pig-headed slayer."

"Nice to see how much we trust each other." Faith muttered absently and walked into a greenwood near the gate. She saw six other Jaffa tied with bush-ropes and hanged upside-down on various trees. She realized going alone after Buffy maybe wasn't such a swell idea after all. Faith knew she won't fight Buffy or Joan but the slayer half of Buffy's character and it scared her as hell. To survive she will have to let her own instincts take over and that was something Faith promised to herself she'll never do again. The problem was, even in the times she killed for the mayor, she still hadn't been what a pure slayer was supposed to be. She killed because she enjoyed it. The slayer half of her and Buffy had no emotions, no doubts or fears. It knew only one desire and had only one purpose - to kill it's enemies and Faith understood her strength won't be enough to win especially when she wanted to get Buffy alive and unharmed if possible.

Faith was sure seeking Buffy wasn't necessary. The slayer is like a beast that protects it's territory from trespassers and Faith expected to be found within the next seconds. Remembering the exercises she did with Buffy months ago she closed her eyes and concentrated. 'Your slayer half is the sword, your mind is the hand that wields it.' Faith slowed down her breathing and began to feel the nature surrounding her. Every leaf or a drop of dew falling to the ground, every blow of the wind that moved the twigs made a specific sound and caused a different sensation. All she had to do was wait for something to disturb this harmony.

----

Buffy made sure the others from the enemy's group didn't follow Faith and began to track her. She noticed this opponent was different from those she had defeated earlier. This woman moved the same way as she did and something deep in her mind evoke her to stop the attack. She chased away the doubts and once more focused on the woman who was now standing between two trees and not moving. Buffy wasn't used to this kind of situation. Most of her prey tried to fight or to escape but this human just stood quietly with closed eyes and she neither made an attempt to run nor gave any sign she would be prepared to defend herself. 'Her stupidity definitely won't save her.' Buffy thought and prepared to attack.

Faith heard a twig break behind her and turned around to block the knife rapidly approaching her neck. She caught Buffy's arm and twisted the wrist to make her drop the weapon but Buffy ignored the pain and continued to press the blade against Faith's shoulder. To say Buffy's appearance frightened Faith would be an underestimate. Half of her face was covered with dried blood, though Faith was sure it wasn't Buffy's and she got even more scared when she looked into her eyes. There was nothing inside. No recognition, mercy or at least lust to kill. The tip of the knife began to cut into Faith's arm and she realized this wasn't the best time for fair play. She used her bigger weight to move both of them closer to a tree and then pressed Buffy's arm against a broken branch. The branch stick in Buffy's hand and she dropped the knife. Buffy growled and kicked Faith into her stomach so hard she fell to the ground. Faith reached for her zat gun and wanted to fire but the other slayer did a roundhouse kick and the zat flew away from Faith's hand. Faith threw a few rapid jabs aimed at Buffy's stomach but she easily deflected them. The two warriors began to circle each other, searching for a weakness in their defences. Faith tried to attack with a high kick but Buffy stepped aside and she missed her head by an inch. She lost her balance and Buffy used it to trip up her legs. Faith didn't fall but rolled backward and reached for her zat lying nearby. She stood up with a triumphant expression but when she looked back where Buffy was two seconds ago, her opponent was gone.

Faith checked her shoulder and calmed down a little when she found out the cut wasn't very deep. She looked around to determine where Buffy had gone but she couldn't see any signs. Faith didn't like the idea to play 'Cat and mouse' especially with her being the mouse. She walked a few steps ahead and observed with curiosity a bush-rope covered by leaves that ended right here she was standing. "Shit!" was all Faith could say before she realized what she was looking at and the trap activated. The bight tightened around her legs and she was turned upside-down and lifted one meter above ground, dropping her weapon in the process. She wanted to cut the rope with her knife, but it fell to the ground out of the holster. Faith stretched her arms as much as possible but it wasn't enough to reach her knife or the zat gun. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Buffy running towards her with a knife drawn. 'Now or never.' Faith thought and used her slayer strength to tear the bush-rope around her legs. She fell to the ground, picked up her zat gun and fired at Buffy before she could reach her. Buffy made a few more steps, the effect of the shot progressing slower then usual, but then she finally lost consciousness.

**Earth, one hour later**

Buffy slowly opened her eyes and sat up. Before she had a chance to look around and find out where the hell she was, a red-haired woman sitting next to her bed threw away a book she was reading and made a surprised shriek that could raise the dead. Buffy rolled off the bed into a defensive stance and waited if the woman will try to attack her, but it seemed she only called for some people named Giles, Faith and Xander. The names were familiar, as was the redhead and the room Buffy was in and she suddenly realized why: she saw them in the dream she had in Colorado. But how did she get here? The last thing Buffy remembered was an attack in the Jaffa camp.

Willow studied Buffy's expression unsure how to proceed. Did Buffy remember who she was or was the slayer half still controlling her behavior? The others entered the infirmary and Willow decided to take the chance and hug her friend and the others joined her, except Faith who stayed a few steps behind.

"I'm so glad you're back Buffy! Are you ok?"

"We thought we've lost you forever!"

"What have you done the three months?"

"Alone in a camp with thirty Jaffa Buff?"

"Welcome home Buffy."

"Yeah, to coach this pack of lazybones alone is beyond even my stamina B."

"How did you get to Tauri?"

"Do you know which Goa'uld kidnapped you?"

"Maybe we should give Buffy some time to relax."

"Why do you keep calling me Buffy? My name is Joan."

Everybody immediately stopped their questions. She still didn't remember? Willow was the first to get out of the shock. "Buffy Joan is just a name you made up during your previous memory loss."

Buffy could see the disappointment in her friend's eyes and how all these people cared about her. She felt almost sorry for not remembering them. "I know you from a dream I had a month ago, but that's it."

"So you have no idea you're a slayer?"

Buffy's confused expression faded away was replaced by an emotionless mask. She grabbed Willow's arm and before the witch had a chance to react she threw her against a cabinet, almost knocking her out. Giles and Xander each tried to grab one of her arms but a single blow was enough to send them both to the ground. Faith was the only one who didn't seem to be surprised by Buffy's behavior. She just shrugged, took out her zat and shot Buffy as soon as the others got out of her line of fire. Then she went to check if Willow was ok and helped her to stand up.

"Is this how she behaved at the camp?" Xander wondered.

"Yeah." Faith nodded. "Something between the Predator and Uma Thurman chopping up the Crazy 88. At least now we know what her trigger is."

Giles picked Buffy up and laid her carefully on the bed where she was resting before she woke up. "We'll have to tell everyone they mustn't say the word 'slayer' in front of her until she remembers who she is."

The others agreed and went to make sure everyone would know about Buffy's trigger before she wakes up again, while Giles made sure she won't leave the infirmary until everything was ready.

**Earth, several hours later**

Buffy was sitting on a chair next to a sleeping brown-haired girl who was still resting after her successful attempt to heal John. Buffy remembered this girl more then the others. Her name was Dawn, she was her sister and also the Key. After Buffy had woken up the second time Giles and Willow explained her the basics about SWC and her own life. They had found out the trigger activates only if someone else says the word slayer so instead of saying it they simply wrote down what Buffy wanted to know. They all assured her, she'll definitely soon remember everything and that it's just a matter of time. The problem was Buffy didn't know if she wants to remember her previous life. Considering what she had learned so far that life was full of pain, suffering and loss. Why should she want it back? She enjoyed being Joan. Joan was a self-confident, brave woman who knew where she belonged, had good friends in SGC and most importantly wasn't some kind of chosen freak whose life purpose was killing everything in her path. A slayer. There were hundreds of them in SWC. Why would they need her? There was no reason for her to stay. Tomorrow she will return to Tauri and help Bra'tac with finding more rebellious Jaffa.

Buffy set eyes on her sister again. She looked so peaceful while she slept. 'You should enjoy it as long as she sleeps. You know how annoying she can be when she's awake.' suddenly echoed in her mind. Whoa, where did that come from? 'And trying to persuade her to clean her room is like talking to a wall. Though a wall would probably accept your suggestions much sooner.' Buffy smiled at the memory of her giving Dawn a lesson about housecleaning. 'And living with her is a twenty-four/seven nightmare. Do you remember when she took your sweatshirt and exchanged it for tickets to a concert? Or how she tried to use a wig and your ID to get to a club and the guy controlling them said it was fake and cut it into pieces? ' More and more memories started to fill Buffy's mind. Dawn's first attempt to say her name which sounded more like bogy then Buffy, how she cried when their father left them, her reaction when Buffy told her and Joyce she's a slayer...

Here we go again. This word. Six letters that set the course of her life. Perhaps she could persuade Dawn to go with her? Forget all this supernatural madness and start anew? Buffy realized she wouldn't be able to leave without Dawn. Her train of thought was disturbed by Faith who entered the room and sat next to her.

"You came to give me a 'deep thoughts' lecture about my soul?" Buffy sighed. "Others have already tried you know."

"The others are not like us. They suppose to understand you, but they have no idea what they're talking about. You know I've never been into this 'deep thoughts' crap." Faith admitted. "So this will be my first run. Actually I'm just going to repeat a speech I got from the Oracle."

"The Oracle?"

"A woman I knew in the big house. We called her the Oracle because she had minor empathic abilities and gave a cool speech to anyone who wanted to trade cigarettes with her." Faith informed Buffy. "She explained something to me so now I'm going to repeat what she told me. In the dream you had in Colorado the first and the last thing you saw was the moment you accepted who you are. You are trying to change your nature. You can't. Get over it."

"Thanks! That's very helpful." Buffy snapped. "See you at dinner."

"That wasn't everything." Faith continued. "Do you know the tale about a fox and a scorpion? The scorpion wanted to get to the other side of a river. The fox agreed to carry him on her back. Once they reached the middle of the river he stab her. The fox asked him why he did it and he answered: Because it's my nature."

"Your point being?"

"You know it's not like the scorpion didn't try. With all his might and willpower he tried to hold back and control himself but it was useless. He couldn't change what he was and the prize was his and the fox's lives. You want to cross the river. You want to be an ordinary human, but once you'll reach the deep water you'll become what you were born to be and it will cost you your life and probably someone you love will die as well. The more you fight your nature, the more dangerous it gets."

"Great. So you're telling me if I hold back it'll only get worse and if I don't, I'll die." Buffy sighed. "And what about a solution?"

"It's simple." Faith smiled. "Stop trying to cross the river. You expect to find something better on the other side and the only reason you think that is because it's impossible to reach. The river is too wide for you to see the same trees are growing on both banks and when the wind blows leafs are falling to the ground no matter on which side you happen to be."

Buffy didn't respond for a while and then nodded. "Thirty seconds."

"You've lost me somewhere B."

"After the battle with The First I thought everything will change." Buffy frowned. "For thirty seconds. I felt like I've left a cage and was finally free. I guess you know the feeling. Then I realized I still have a lot of work to do but it was ok because I knew one day there will be enough of us and I can retire to have a life, a breathing non-military boyfriend, five dogs and a perfect lawn in front of my house all neighbors would envy. And then we've found the gate and I realized the cage I left was just part of a bigger one. The fight against the Goa'uld will probably last centuries and there won't be a safe place on our planet. Not for me, not for Dawn or anyone else. I don't expect you to understand me."

"Oh no, I get it.You're pissed off because that bitch called life keeps striking back. Look B we've both experienced some serious shit during our calling, but we're still here so I guess it worked out."

"I'm not so sure about that." Buffy sighed again." It was nice to be Joan. Do you know how it feels to get the chance to live completely different, the way you dreamt about?"

"More than you'd expect." Faith admitted. " You see...my other side of the river... was you. When I came to Sunnydale I was scared and insecure. I had lost my watcher a week before and had no idea how to get rid of Kakistos. I met you and to me it seemed like your life was perfect without any real problems. You had a loving mother, friends and a watcher who cared about you. It's easy to be jealous. You had your own issues but I was too wrapped up in my own little world to see them. I didn't want to see your problems. And later, thinking you had a perfect life made hating you much easier. Everybody expected me to be like you and after I had woken up from the coma I began to want it myself. We switched our bodies and I got the chance, but the more I tried to follow suit, the more I realized it will never work."

"Wow." Buffy remarked. "I should have given you a list of things I messed up. You'd undoubtedly reconsider swapping our bodies."

"Yeah." Faith agreed. "I look cooler anyway."

"At least I didn't get knocked up because of you."

"With soldier boy? Big overture. Little show."

"Tell me about it." Buffy giggled. "It should be part of ID or something."

"I still haven't boinked an undead." Faith complained. 

"You were always a little slow." Buffy sighed. "I'm not sure I can do it anymore."

"Boinking vamps?"

"Slaying."

"Then I guess we should do something about it." Faith stood up, took Buffy's hand and dragged her away to the nearest ring transport. The rings descended around the couple and they reappeared in a musty abandoned crypt.

"I heard they raised the price of bus tickets, but isn't building a transport to every heap of rotten bones an overkill?" Buffy remarked looking around the small room.

Faith walked to the crypt's steel door and unlocked it. "This is the only graveyard in London, where you can have some fun nowadays. With over two hundred SITs around, most of the demons escaped from the heavily populated areas."

After they got out Buffy noticed there were at least twenty crypts similar to the one they just left in the graveyard. She had to admit the transport was well hidden and someone without the knowledge about Goa'uld technology had no chance to find it. As they walked along the various graves and tombs Buffy got more and more nervous. She was holding her stake so tight she almost crushed it. When was the last time she faced a vampire? Half year ago? Right now she'd prefer a hundred Jaffa to one demon. 'Like in the camp? Do you remember how you killed those soldiers?' Buffy thought. No, this wasn't her anymore. She had to get out of the graveyard, she didn't belong there. Buffy watched Faith sit on one of the tombstones and leisurely play with her own stake. Faith looked bored and annoyed like someone who was watching a lame film and just ran out of popcorn. Buffy began to walk back to the transport, but stopped when she noticed a shadow of a large figure move behind one of the crypts. The vampire didn't waste time and ran towards the first source of fresh blood he saw in his path - Faith, who obviously didn't pay attention and had no idea what's coming.

"Faith behind you!" Buffy shouted but it was too late for a warning. The vampire punched down her friend and they both began struggle on the ground. Buffy expected Faith to get rid of him quickly, but it seemed the attack surprised her so much the odds were on the demon's side. He was holding her both hands with his own and slowly lowering his fangs to her neck.

"B help me!" Faith yelled sounding desperate.

Buffy wanted to run to Faith, but something stopped her - a thought hidden deep in her mind telling her if she'll help Faith now, she'll lose control again and that she can't allow that to happen. Buffy tried to fight her desire to run away, but she felt it's beyond her free will and suddenly realized the reason. The fact she remembered her life was irrelevant, the drug still had an effect on her and the only way to get rid of it seemed to be slaying a vampire without activating the trigger, which was beyond her capability. Unable to act differently she turned around and trotted back to the transport. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts she didn't notice the entrance to the crypt, where the transport rings were situated, wasn't so abandoned as it should be. She almost bumped into the three vampires waiting there.

"What do we have here?" one of the vamps grabbed Buffy's shoulder.

"It's probably one of those sluts-in-training."

"You shouldn't walk alone in the dark little girl. Might be dangerous."

"Isn't this the part where she's supposed to start screaming for help?" one of the vampires got one step closer to Buffy. "Won't you try to escape?"

You have no idea how much control it takes not to. Buffy thought, getting an idea. "Actually I would be glad if you surrounded me so I had no chance to run away and then attacked me."

The three vampires looked at her like she was crazy, but then thought of it as an interesting game and obeyed. There was nowhere to run and Buffy felt her desire to escape melt away. She smirked and took out her stake.

As soon as Buffy was out of sight, Faith's struggling immediately changed. She broke out of the vampire's hold with ease and punched his face away from her neck. Before the surprised demon had a chance to adjust to the change in his opponent's way of fighting Faith reached for her stake and plunged it into his chest, dusting him. 

"Acting as a damsel in distress is obviously not so effective as it used to be." Faith summarized her attempt to make Buffy help her. She began to walk back to the transport rings, but started running when she heard some fighting sounds coming from the crypt.

Buffy ducked under the punch of the vampire in front of her and kicked the one on her right. The third got more lucky and grabbed her left arm with his both hands, which was his last mistake, because when he slew her around to face him, his chest was completely unguarded and Buffy easily staked him. When the vampire began to turn to dust Buffy felt like she had just severed some chains that were making her hold back. She turned to the two remaining demons with an amused expression. They were surprised but clearly not clever enough to realize their prey had just become the hunter and tried to attack her once more. Buffy did an exemplary high kick and send one of them flying towards the nearest tree. The other tried to punch her, but instead of ducking the blow, she stood ground and let him hit her. The vampire saw the attack had no effect and backed away seeing the feral grin she gave him, confused by the fact she wasn't watching his face, but his chest. He looked down and saw the stake embodied in his torso before becoming a pile of dust. Buffy went to the last vamp, who was standing up just at the moment. He tried to escape, but it seemed he broke his right leg when he hit the tree, which made his retreat attempt a little problematic. Buffy grabbed his jacket and picked him up using only one hand.

"You know what? It's good to be me." Buffy threw the vamp against a broken branch, which went right through his heart.

"I see you're having fun." Faith watched Buffy kill the last vamp.

"Nothing like the good old-fashioned violence to make you accept your life." Buffy shrugged.

"Then I guess there is only one thing left." Faith took out a zat gun and aimed at Buffy. "Slayer."

Buffy's expression didn't change and she smirked. "Look's like it's over. I say we party!"

"Agreed." Faith put the zat back into the holster. "We'll get the Scoobies, some drinks and find you a 'well-equipped' watcher to make you company in the cold winter nights."

"Faith!" Buffy's face turned a deep shade of red. "I see you're still on the hungry-and-horny philosophy."

"You bet. Or I could call Angel. I heard he can't lose his soul anymore." Faith hit Buffy's weak spot.

"Really? I mean it's not like I would." Buffy's face got even redder. "Did he...uhm...you know."

"I asked Connor to make a list." Faith made mischievous grin. "But he got tired of writing it after the first hundred and fifty."

"Very funny. Perhaps I should call all your former boyfriends and organize a meeting with Robin in the manor."

"Impossible." Faith shrugged. "There is no room or hall where they'd all fit in."

Both women giggled and continued the bickering for another half hour before they returned back to SWC. After they transported back to the manor they went to the infirmary and Faith wanted to leave Buffy alone with Dawn, but Buffy stopped her.

"I almost forgot to do the most important thing." Buffy pulled Faith closer and hug her. "Thank you for everything what you've done for me."

Faith wasn't sure how to respond. She wasn't used to someone thanking her or showing more affection then simple politeness, so she just stand there and let Buffy hug her for nearly a half minute before she put her arms around Buffy as well. She found it surprising how much this simple gesture of friendship meant to her. She closed her eyes and enjoyed every second of it. It took another two minutes until Buffy let go.

"Come on B. You should go to your sister." Faith kindly reminded her friend.

Buffy looked Faith deep into the eyes, a small tear running down her face and hug her once more. "I am with my sister."

**Tauri, the next day**

Buffy sat into one of the comfortable chairs in the conference room and gave Hammond and SG-1 a questioning look. "So what's the big emergency?"

"Senator Kinsey's body disappeared." Hammond informed her with a serious expression. "The sniper we sent to him is sure the senator was dead when he left, but later one of his neighbors called the police and when they came to investigate, there was no body. However that's not the most important reason why we asked you to come here." Hammond opened the folder in front of him and gave Buffy several photographs. "These men are Kinsey's bodyguards and also former NID agents. We assume they stole Kinsey's corpse for whatever reason and three hours ago they attacked the president's transport and tried to kill him. Fortunately the president is unharmed and his own bodyguards were able to protect him. You were presumably kidnapped by the same men while you stayed in Colorado and since you've regained your memory we hoped you might tell us something about them. The president would like to talk to you in private about Kinsey and also about the alliance between our planets."

Buffy got suddenly very nervous.The president wants to talk to her? What should she say? And what about her clothes! She was wearing the same outfit she had the night before. Not exactly the best choice for an audience with the president of the U.S. She noticed the encouraging looks Hammond and SG-1 gave her. Of course they do, they're not the ones to be embarrassed. Ok Buffy don't panic, this meeting is not that important. It only might decide the fate of your planet. She took a deep breath and followed Hammond to the office where the president was waiting for her. A guard used a metal detector to make sure she was unarmed and let her inside. Buffy took note of one bodyguard standing next to the president. The conversation won't be so private after all. There was another thing that bothered her. The man standing in front of her was somehow familiar, though she was sure she had never seen the president during her last stay on Tauri. She didn't recognize the features, it was the scent. She smiled and accepted the offered handshake, trying to remember.

"I am glad we finally meet Miss Summers."

Buffy didn't answer and closed her eyes. The words seemed so distant. The only thing that mattered was the familiar scent and the memories it stir. In her mind she saw herself beaten with cuts and bruises all over her body and chained to a metal chair in a hospital room with several men in white cloaks observing her. One of them came closer and injected some liquid into her bloodstream. She screamed in pain as the liquid spread through her body. The man shook his head and began to talk with someone behind her whom she couldn't see. He called him the senator and tried to explain to him why the drug they used on her didn't have the desired effect. "The slayer DNA in her is blocking the modifications."

"Then give her a larger dose. I don't care if it kills her." the senator ordered and went closer to Buffy. "After this is over you'll beg me to give you another dose slayer and your kind will be the ones you'll hate the most."

All of a sudden Buffy realized what she smelled. 'Forget the form and see your enemy.' Buffy thought and opened her eyes. The smile disappeared from her face and was replaced by pure hatred. She squeezed the president's hand until she heard the carpal bones crack. The guard tried to stop her, but she knocked him out with a single punch. The man in front of her began to scream as she continued to crush his hand. Any of his attempts to free himself failed. Buffy released his hand and grabbed his throat.

"I KNOW YOU."

Jack and the rest of SG-1 burst into the room, aiming their weapons at Buffy. "Let him go! Now!"

Buffy released the president's throat, but instead of letting him go she took the alien shape-shifting device hidden on his chest and tore it away. The president's features disappeared and were replaced by Kinsey's.

Jack and the rest of his team lowered their weapons. Jack was the first to realize what was going on and his confused expression changed into a mischievous grin. "I take it back. Do whatever you want."

"Thank you." Buffy punched Kinsey sending him to the other side of the room. She went to his battered body and waited until he stood up. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to be sure he would hear her.

"Slayer forever." Buffy smirked. "And proud of it."

End chapter.

Review please, I'm not sure if this was cool or completely sucked.


	20. Puzzle pieces part 1

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 19-Puzzle pieces-part 1

An unsigned black helicopter landed on a heliport in front of the manor and a man in green military outfit got out into the heavy rain. He waved his hand and the helicopter took air leaving him standing alone. He noticed Buffy waiting for him near the entrance to the manor and jogged to her.

Buffy watched Riley approach and hug him. "Boy, I'm so glad they sent you and not some puffy jack-in-office."

"It's a pity the only chance we get to see each other is a military meeting." Riley sighed. "I and Sam had plenty of time the last months and I tried to reach you but it seemed like you vanished from the face of Earth."

"Literally." Buffy chuckled. "But explaining my four-month holiday before we fill you in would be quite pointless. What exactly did you tell your superiors?"

"The basics you told me. You have a device that enables to travel to other planets, our world is in danger, military from another planet wants to cooperate with us and asked to meet someone representing the U.S government. I read the rest during the flight here. General Korgan sent me because I have the most experience dealing with slayers and because no one else was enthused about the idea of visiting this institution. Most of them still remember what you managed by yourself in the Initiative and you should have seen their faces a year ago when we found out there are hundreds of slayers. It was priceless. "

"There is one thing I would like to make clear." Buffy stopped where the transport rings were situated, and looked at her former boyfriend with determined expression. "We are not giving the gate to the government. Under no circumstances."

Riley slowly nodded understanding her motives."You know, that's exactly what Korgan and other generals demanded. I never expected you to obey, however you should realize, the army might try to take it by force."

"Hate to say it, but the army doesn't have the necessary firepower to steal a stuffed animal from this house."

(A/N:I'll have to make the slayers a little too powerful in this one but I don't want to do chapters about SWC fighting with the government for the control over stargate. It would be pointless considering what's going to happen in the next chapters.)

"Buffy, the SWC might have several hundred slayers but if our government persuades England's military to attack, you don't stand a chance against modern weapons." Riley sounded worried. "Technological superiority is what decides a war nowadays and you use just stakes and crossbows."

"You sure about that?" Buffy smiled and activated the transport. " The rings descended around them and the couple reappeared in front of the already activated stargate. "Thing's change." Buffy smirked noticing Riley's confused expression. "There is a Goa'uld shield protecting this manor together with several magical shields so unless your general plans to throw the whole U.S. nuclear arsenal at us, which probably wouldn't make Elizabeth very happy, we're safe. Also slayers don't shot arrows at aliens, we have the same equipment as you have, maybe better, simply because what we don't develop ourselves we buy or steal. Not very ethical, but effective. Using magic, Willow can hack into any database on the planet, the watchers don't study just history and mythology anymore, most of the old watchers died in the war with the First and the we hired people with the necessary skills and knowledge. The Goa'uld production facility we have allows reconfigurations on molecular level, which allowed us to construct copies of Goa'uld equipment. In case you wonder why I'm telling all this to you...I need you to persuade SGC to forget our government."

"Buffy, anything you've just said doesn't change my opinion." Riley smiled. "I would prefer you to the bureaucrats in D.C. even if your only weapon was a stake. Actually general Korgan expected this reaction and persuaded the others to leave SWC alone, for a prize of course."

"Thank you." Buffy smiled and then gave Riley a questioning look."And what do they want from us?"

"Sharing any alien technology you acquire."

"What a surprise!" Buffy paused for a moment before continuing on bitterly."Tell your superiors to forget alien weapons, because the government would use it against humans on Earth and please remind them they aren't in a position to demand anything. If they want us to share weapon technology, then we'll share it with every one. And please don't give me a lecture about our government having the moral high ground compared to other countries. If there is one thing I've learned during the war with The First: It's not about right or wrong, it's about power. You know what sharing these weapons would lead to."

"I'll see what I can do." Riley nodded and gazed coldly at Faith who was waiting for them in front of the gate. He muttered something but out of the respect to Buffy didn't push it further. Buffy noticed the tension and sighed, hoping the two will behave. Standing between Riley and Faith she entered the gate.

Riley felt a little dazed after he stepped out but shrugged it of and focused at the group in front of him. He easily recognized which one is the general Buffy mentioned earlier and shook his hand. "Sir. I'm colonel Finn from the U.S. army special operations unit."

"It's a pleasure to meet you colonel." Hammond answered and introduced his first team. "This is colonel Jack O'Neill, major Samantha Carter, doctor Daniel Jackson and Jaffa Teal'c."

Riley greeted the others and then followed Hammond to the conference room, carefully watching Teal'c and wondering what the symbiont he carried inside looked like. The whole group sat down and the general studied with interest Riley's military outfit for a while before he started the conversation.

"Whom exactly do you represent colonel Finn?"

"A branch of our military authorized to deal with nonhuman threats on our planet." Riley informed the general. "Though we usually fight with sub-terrestrials and not aliens."

"When you say sub-terrestrial, you mean what exactly?" Jack wondered.

Riley turned to Buffy, clearly surprised. "You didn't tell them about vampires and demons?"

"I tried." Buffy defended herself. "But when I first mentioned demons, someone I'm not going to name, wanted to drag me to the infirmary and ask Janet to check for another brain damage." Buffy gave Daniel, who suddenly found the materials in front of him incredibly fascinating, an accusing look.

"Demons and vampires are real. At least on our planet." Riley informed SG-1. "Our units hunt them down, whenever we get a chance. We even helped the slayers prevent an apocalypse last year." He added proudly.

Now it was Jack's turn to be surprised."You mean you let these..."

"Ehm." Faith coughed and gave Jack a challenging look.

"...brilliant young women I'll be very happy to work with, decide the fate of your planet?" Jack grinned triumphantly at Faith.

"Smartass." Faith muttered, deciding to ignore him.

"Sir. May I speak unofficially?" Riley turned back to the general.

"Nothing will leave this room, unless you agree." Hammond nodded.

"The governments on our planet don't don't give a damn neither about the everyday situation nor the serious dangers when it concerns the sub-terrestrials. Most of them have known about the supernatural threats for decades and have done nothing. The units I command come from an organization called the Initiative which we thought in the beginning was established to protect the public but it turned out the only reason was to create a superior soldier for the government's military purposes. An apocalypse threatens to destroy our world every year, sometimes even more often and how many of them had been avoided by government organizations? None. The safety of our planet is secured by the slayers, who face the most dangerous enemies, and other private institutions like Angel Investigations, the Coven in England, Hindu mage clans, monks from the Temple of Light, samurai guilds and others. Even the Knights of Byzantium, who were a bunch of religious fanatics once saved the world, which is more than I can say about the Initiative. When our own president learned about demons his reaction was: Do anything to keep it away from the press. Otherwise he wasn't interested at all."

"What exactly is your suggestion colonel?" Jack asked. "No offence, but I would prefer cooperating with military and you can't expect us to keep the governments on your planet in the dark."

"The stargate will stay in the hands of SWC, no matter what we agree on." Riley announced. "My superior general Korgan is ready to send teams to support SWC, if necessary. I'll recommend informing our president only in case of an invasion and expect SGC to respect this decision." Riley addressed the general. "Also if my informations are correct, SGC is not an international operation so with all respect colonel O'Neill, perhaps you want to make the alien threat public on your own planet first."

Hammond gave Jack a threatening look to avoid any arguments and nodded. "Of course SGC will respect your decision. I see the situation on your planet is different and we can't pretend to fully understand it. I guess now we should discuss the other important topic of this meeting. Major Carter, did you make any progress concerning the two Earths phenomenon?"

"I'm afraid no Sir." Carter gave everyone a folder containing the results of her measurements. "There are no signs of cascade entropy failures so we can rule out a parallel universe. On the other hand we haven't found anyone's double yet. However it's indisputable the both planets are too similar to call it a coincidence. The other strange fact is the Tok'ra celestial maps don't show the second Earth's solar system at all."

Jack and Faith opened the folder and looked at the numbers. "Do they really expect me to read through this crap? A week in a Goa'uld prison would be more enjoyable." They both scowled in frustration.

"Did we just agree on something?" Jack wondered, watching Faith sceptically. "That never happened."

"Already forgotten." Faith frantically nodded and tried to focus at the results again.

"We expect the reason is supernatural." Buffy informed Hammond. "Willow and Giles are still searching for leads, but couldn't find any clues yet. I and Faith will try other sources of informations and we can compare the results later."

"Perhaps we could ask Thor?" Faith suggested absently. 

All members of SGC turned to Faith with a shocked expression. "You know Thor?" Jack managed to rasp out.

"Gray guy, about one meter high, travels in a big ship." Faith described the Asguard commander. "Yeah, I know him. He mentioned a colonel from Tauri with an immedicable fishing obsession. I guess that would be you."

"Thor named their best ship after me." Jack countered.

"So much to the Asguard's superior intellect." Faith returned the triumphant grin he gave her previously.

"General, we don't have to give an IDC to every slayer, do we?" Jack beseeched his superior.

"When you to are done acting like children, perhaps we could continue." Buffy rolled her eyes. If these two don't kill each other soon she might lend a hand.

"Actually I think there is nothing more to discuss today." Hammond addressed the others. "I will contact the president and inform him about your decision colonel Finn. Fortunately we managed to find and rescue the president from his kidnappers unharmed. He asked me express his thanks to you Miss Summers and he would like to apologize, he can't I participate on this conference. I suggest we meet again in two days, after the SWC will contact the mentioned supernatural sources of informations and the interrogation of senator Kinsey will be over."

Buffy and Riley agreed and Hammond returned back to his office leaving the others alone. Riley walked away with Carter, who promised to show him the base, hoping she would get some informations about magic and the principles making it work in the meantime. Jack grinned at the thought of Riley trying to satisfy Carter's thirst for knowledge. The boy had no idea what he was getting into. Daniel seemed to be a little nervous and soon apologized and withdrew to his office mumbling something about an important translation and Buffy followed him leaving Faith with Jack and Teal'c.

Faith leaned back in her chair, observing the stoic features of the Jaffa sitting on the other side of the table. "If this expression means something, I bet it's a question."

"Correct." Teal'c nodded. "I still find it hard to believe Buffy could defeat a hundred Jaffa without any help. Your and her bodies can't have the necessary strength and endurance."

"Magic Teal'c, have you forgotten? They are not normal humans." Jack snorted. He wondered how much he will have to push before Faith will try to do something nasty to him. If he was supposed to join forces with slayers he wanted to be sure what he can expect and testing her patience was an interesting way to find out. Faith reminded Jack of himself in his twenties - impatient and impulsive but loyal and ready to risk anything for her friends, at least that was his impression from their previous mission.

"Look whose talking Mister 'advanced DNA'." Faith snapped at him. This guy was really beginning to make her cranky. What was his problem? "And Buffy didn't defeat them. It was the slayer." Faith turned her attention back to Teal'c." Imagine your symbiont would take over. It makes you stronger and faster, but it's not you."

"It seems the Jaffa and the slayers have a lot in common." Teal's slightly bowed his head to show his appreciation. "Controlling the symbiont is very challenging and Jaffa have to train since their childhood to maintain the control and let the young Goa'uld take over only during the Kel'nor'reem. The demons colonel Finn mentioned, do they posses the similar strength as you?"

"Some of them are even stronger and have various special abilities like becoming incorporeal, walking through walls or poisoned claws and fangs. I met one who could shoot electrical bolts out of his hands." Faith shivered at the memory of being almost electrocuted.

"And the slayers fight against all demons in your world? Five hundred women are not enough to secure the whole planet. It's too much to ask." Teal'c gave out his opinion.

Faith didn't respond for several second and then burst out laughing like she had just heard the best joke in her life. She was leaning back in her chair and the outburst caused she almost fell in the process. She grabbed the edge of the table to regain her balance and when she noticed Jack was looking at her like she had grown a second head she slowly calmed down.

"And I thought no one can appreciate your sense of humor Teal'c." Jack grinned at his friend, who just raised his eyebrow as usual, when he saw Faith's reaction. "And am I the only one who didn't get it?"

"Sorry, it's just...when Teal'c said five hundred is not enough. For thousands of years, there had been always only one slayer at a time and when a slayer died, another one was called. Twenty months ago Buffy asked Willow to use the Scythe to activate all potential slayers around the world, so now we're running a little feministic teenage Babylon."

"So you are one of the activated potentials?"

"Not exactly. Buffy died a few years back and a slayer named Kendra was called. She was killed during a fight against a group of vampires trying to awake a demon with the ability to send the whole Earth into a hell dimension and I am her successor." Faith explained leisurely. "Four years ago, B got six feet under again, this time for several moths, but no new slayer was called to replace her, probably because the line now goes through me."

"Buffy died twice? Space-monkey have just lost another of his privileges." Jack smirked, imagining himself teasing Daniel about it, 'on the other hand, thank god he is fine', Jack thought, considering Daniel's special skill to get into trouble within the first five minutes on any unknown planet.

"One girl can not influence the situation on the whole planet." Teal'c stated.

"You know, most of the bad guys crawl around the Hellmouth so the slayer has them close enough to hack them into pieces."

"That's really a wonderful job description you've got there." Jack remarked.

Faith decided she was tired of of this verbal conquest."What exactly is your problem?"

"We are supposed to go to missions together and I need to know who is watching my six. Two days ago I've seen the results of a small woman, I considered a typical human, effortlessly massacring a hundred Jaffa so please forgive me I'm a little worried."

"I'm not going to shot you in your back, if that's what you mean." Faith replied. "Until you try the same we're five by five. Deal?"

"Deal." Jack nodded composing himself. Faith smiled and wanted to add something, but decided she better find Buffy. She planned to leave to L.A. in the evening and didn't have much time to lose so she stood up, lighted a cigarette right next to the 'No Smoking' sign and went to look for Buffy. Jack watched her leave and then turned swiftly back to Teal'c with a curious expression. "What the hell is a Hellmouth?"

Teal'c raised his eyebrow...

Buffy watched Daniel flee from the conference room using a lame excuse and decided to follow him. He seemed distracted and he barely looked at her when they had met the previous day or during the today's meeting. She knocked on the door to his office and after she heard a casual 'Come in' she entered the room.

"Uhm...hi." Daniel stopped reading the creasy scroll in front of him. "You're looking for someone?" Daniel mentally paddled himself. She came to your office, whom do you think she's looking for? Daniel hoped to avoid this conversation with Buffy...yes this was the problem, the woman talking to him wasn't Joan, the friend he saved and brought to SGC. He was supposed to be happy she regained her memory but Daniel felt like he had lost a friend. In a strange way it was funny, that by an irony of fate while SGC had been looking for clues about the origin of slayers all around the galaxy, the oldest slayer was snoozing in their infirmary.

"I'm trying to find a friend." Buffy sat next to Daniel. "He used to work in this office, encourage me to start training with Teal'c, steal desserts from Jack and giving them to me when I was at the infirmary and was ready to chat with me for hours whenever I felt lonely. Have an idea what happened to him?"

"And who is asking?" Daniel give a slight sigh, nervously playing with the ancient scroll in his hand."Buffy or Joan?"

"Someone who hopes you still care about her." Buffy watched Daniel take down his glasses and begin to clean them. She will have to force him to meet Giles one day."I'm not Joan, you can't expect me to act exactly the same way so why don't we simply start anew?" Buffy made her best puppy dog eyes.

"I guess that could be arranged." Daniel smiled and they both stood up facing each other. "Hi, I'm Dr Daniel Jackson."

"Hi, I'm Buffy Summers." Buffy casually shook his hand."Is this seat taken?"

"Oh no, please sit down." Daniel offered her one of the chairs. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please. There's nothing a large dose of caffeine can't solve."

"So...you live around here?" Daniel gave Buffy a small cup and sugar, then put some water in coffeepot and let it boil.

"No, I'm just visiting a friend and you doctor Jackson?"

"Well...I live a couple blocks to the south, but I spend the most time at work and please call me Daniel."

"Only if you'll call me Buffy." Buffy chuckled enjoying the game."I think I heard about you ... you have lectures about ancient cultures...but what kind of job can this city offer to an archaeologist?"

"Oh...I'm working on a military base nearby...they...uh...decode Russian satellite transmissions encrypted in old Byzantine languages...but I haven't told you. And you?"

"I'm a consultant on a private school. You know...all teenagers have their demons... and I help the girls to face their fears."

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Faith peeped into the room. "Did she hit her head again? Time to motor B, L.A. singing lesson remember?"

"I'll gather up my remaining neurons and catch up with you." Buffy replied and returned the unused cup to Daniel." We'll have the coffee next time."

"Definitely." Daniel smiled and hug her. "Good luck with that...singing thing."

"Thanks." Buffy returned the smile and hurried after Faith.

Buffy trotted back to the conference room to find the others waiting for her - except Riley and Carter who were just returning from the tour through the base. Jack grinned when he saw Riley's face...yep another Earth or not, no colonel can withstand Carter's scientific enthusiasm.

"...but there must be a biological difference in the tissue of a vampire's heart, when it interacts with the molecules of wood and remains intact after being run through by any other material."

"Carter." Jack tried to get major's attention without success.

"Have you ever measured if a dusting follows the laws of conservation of energy?"

"Carter."

"If there is really only a pile of dust left, then the process probably unsettles a large quantum of energy. What about a spectral analysis of the electromagnetic waves around the body during a dusting?"

"Carter!!"

"Sir?"

"Please leave the poor colonel alone. We're not building vampire energy generators...at least not today." Jack made clear.

"But Sir, the concept of magic denying the laws of physics is..."

"Fascinating! I know." Jack agreed, eagerly gesturing to Riley this was the best time to nip off. "I find a creek full of trouts fascinating yet I've never forced Hammond to allow me preparing sushi of his conference table."

Quite a disturbing image, Carter thought."No Sir, of course not." She shook Riley's hand and took leave of him. The others said their goodbay as well and together walked away to the gateroom.

After Riley ,Buffy and Faith returned back to the manor Faith offered to take Riley to Washington, since she was going to L.A. to Lorne, but he politely refused. He was still uneasy around Faith and would much more prefer to go with Buffy, but she decided to stay, because she didn't want to miss when Dawn wakes up.

"We should meet sometime." Riley suggested.

"Sure." Buffy agreed, as a former girlfriend she was naturally curious about Riley's marriage. "But I don't won't to hinder you from having fun with demon tribes in rain forests around Congo."

"What do you mean?" Riley sounded puzzled. "The slayers killed all of them. I've been with Sam in D.C. for the last four months."

"No we didn't." Faith objected. "We didn't kill more them one tenth of the Earth's demon natality. We thought they escaped to less populated areas, the mountains and forests should be crawling with them."

"Our units located only two groups of demons in the last months." Riley shook his head. "I've no idea where the rest is."

"They escaped." Faith face filled with realization."Like the Gur'dar four days ago." Faith saw the others looking confused so she started explaining. "There was a demon tribe forty kilometers away from here and we received a warning from a seer in Coven they will try to open a portal to a hell dimension. We kicked their ass, but later Giles found out they only wanted to escape from Earth. Before I killed their leader, he said something about the balance being destroyed...I didn't really pay much attention to him, but we have two Earths here and that's unbalanced enough don't you think?"

"So all demons nipped off?" Buffy wondered. "I really hope Lorne and the PTB (Powers that be) will explain this. Wait a minute." Buffy paused. "Giles thinks we're all under a spell, fortunately I have a way to find out."

"I'll ask around in D.C." Riley offered.

The three agreed they'll compare the results the next day and separated. Riley left to a helicopter waiting for him in front of the manor, Faith decided using public transport sucks and chose to take a transport ship and Buffy left to the infirmary to check up on Dawn.

----

Dawn was gradually regaining her consciousness and remembering the last hours before she fall asleep. The first memory of the past events was 'Au, my head hurts',directly followed by 'My head hurts a lot'. Next time she'll definitely study the symptoms of a healing ritual before she uses it. She carefully tried to open her eyes but, there was a bright light shining right above her head so she turned to her side, slowly raising her eyelids. She realized she was still at the infirmary and everything seemed perfectly normal. The curtains were drawn aside and the beams of an afternoon sun were filling the room, a titmouse was singing outside, Buffy was sitting next to her bed, a watcher was checking the other patients, another watcher was changing the...wait a minute...rewind...a titmouse was singing outside, Buffy was sitting next to her bed...Buffy?...Buffy!

"Buffy!" Dawn shoot out of her bed throwing herself on her sister, whose slayer reflexes obviously slumbered at the moment, because Dawn almost sent them both to the floor. Buffy lovingly put her arms around Dawn and gently stroke Dawn's hair. She felt like laughing and crying at the same time. Dawn nestled against her with a strength she had no idea her sister possessed, her head resting on Buffy's shoulder and softly sobbing.

Dawn slowly raised her head and with tears filling her eyes she watched Buffy like she was afraid her sister would disappear again. "If this is a dream...don't let me wake up."

"No dream, promise." Buffy whispered caressing Dawn's back. 

"You're grounded." Dawn sobbed out sorrowfully. "For the next decade."

"Hey!" Buffy chuckled. "You can't ground me, I'm older."

"I'm taller, which gives me more authority. And you have a lot to make up for."

"I'm sorry." Buffy stifled her own desire to cry and smiled." Can I make it up with ice-cream?"

"No." Dawn shook her head. "Promise you'll never leave me again."

"I'll never leave you again." Buffy swore.

"Now gimme the promised ice-cream." Dawn smiled and looked around with curiosity. "Wait a minute, where's John? Is he ok?" Dawn suddenly sounded worried.

"John's fine." Buffy gave Dawn a reassuring smile. "I just sent him to help Willow."

"Thank god." Dawn fetched a sight of relief."I almost thought I got him killed the first day after we saved him from the NID."

"Dawn that's not exactly ..."Buffy hesitated to tell Dawn why John joined her. She didn't want to make Dawn upset right after their reunion."...important right now. Let's have ice-cream."

----

It was almost dark when Buffy left Dawn with Xander and entered her office, carrying two jar's of colored sand she borrowed from Willow. She carefully shed the sand on the floor, forming a circle and sat down cross-legged into the middle. She was nervous about casting this spell. The last time she used it, she found out the truth about Dawn, but if Giles was right and the reason for two Earths in one universe was a spell, this was the fastest way to find out. Buffy lowered her eyelids and slowed down her breathing, seeking the stillness in her mind. Neither sleeping, nor awake she let the reality around her fade away...

To be continued.

Review appreciated.


	21. Puzzle pieces part 2

Thanks for reviews! Jack will never ask what Five by five means again. Promise.

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 20 - Puzzle pieces-part 2

**Earth, Wolfram&Hart**

Angel was sitting behind the desk in his office and flicking through the pages of various Wolfram&Hart reports with a dreary expression. He had spend the last two hours searching for anything unusual, but couldn't find any proof that would confirm what Faith told him. None of the files contained informations about unexpected demon movements or opening portals to other dimensions during the last year. Frustrated, he threw away the last volume and headed to the main hall. Faith said she would arrive at six and Angel wondered how she managed to get from England to L.A. in less then three hours. When he left his office, he saw Faith was already waiting for him and talking to Lorne.

Faith noticed Angel enter the hall and studied his unhappy expression. Without a single word she knew his search wasn't successful. "Man, if this the look you use nowadays to welcome a friend you haven't seen for months, I don't want to know how you greet your enemies.", she grinned.

"I'm sorry Faith." Angel sighed and tried to smile. "I couldn't..."

"Find anything." Faith nodded. "Got that part the minute you gave me this brooding look. Doesn't matter. What I really need is a chat with the powers so I'll sing, Lorne spills out what they know and everything will be fine."

"I'll be glad to hear you sing sweetheart, however a message from the PTB is exactly the one thing I can't offer. I've lost my powers almost two years ago and we have never found out why. We have seers from Wolfram&Hart, but they can't contact the PTB and use their own abilities to predict the future." Lorne explained.

(A/N I haven't Angel's last season and the end of S4 so I'm not sure if Lorne has his powers, but in this story he doesn't.)

"Almost two years ago? What was the last prophecy you heard?"

"Oh, please don't remind me of that night. It was right after Angel got the control over L.A.'s branch of W&H and over three dozen lawyers ran to me and wanted to know their future. I needed a tequila after each vision to forget what I've seen and almost forty drinks make even a demon soused." Lorne tried to remember. "I think the last lawyer I heard sing will be arrested next month for smuggling."

"That's all?" Faith wondered. "No visions about demons or...let's say...planets?"

"Now that you mentioned it." Lorne paused thoughtfully. "I had a weird dream that night, which I always considered the beginning of a very long hangover. But there is no way it could come from the PTB. I had always received the messages only when people sang and this was just a dream." Lorne shrugged. "It was too cheesy even for a prophecy anyway. I saw a demon without a face in a dark cloak, sitting on a golden throne and I heard someone say: The future is written in the stars. Then all of a sudden the picture was gone, like when you switch off a TV. "

Faith's face got paler, she knew exactly what the prophecy meant. The guy on the golden throne was definitely a Goa'uld. "Is there another way to contact the powers?"

"Only one I have cognizance of. It's a hidden chamber in Derinkuyu." Angel replied. "The only place where you can talk to the PTB without a seer or an oracle."

"Derinkuyu.That's the new skyscraper two blocks to the south from Wolfram&Hart?"

"It's a underground city in Turkey." Angel explained. "I'll book a ticket to Ankara for tomorrow."

"I have something a little faster." Faith smirked."Ready to go right now?" Faith got a little closer to Angel and when he nodded she activated the rings, leaving the others stare with open mouths at the empty space previously occupied by Faith and Angel.

When the couple reappeared in the transport ship Angel just looked around without showing any sing of surprise and put his arms on his hips. "Why do I feel like there is something you didn't tell me?"

"I'll explain everything under way." Faith promised.

----

Jack was sitting in the conference room and listened to Carter describing the last mission on P4X-something. It was a routine work. Greet the villagers, get some soil samples, keep Daniel out of trouble, ask about alien technology and persuade the locals Teal'c belongs to the good guys. Nothing really happened during the mission which Jack considered a surprise because usually SG-1 was under attack within the first ten minutes. Even the food the villagers gave them seemed to be without a virus, nanobots or a chemical changing them into mutants. However, no matter how friendly were the inhabitants on PX4, Jack would prefer to stay on Earth during the last hours and the reason was the General's next sentence.

"The interrogation of senator Kinsey is already over."Hammond informed his first team.

Daniel noticed Jack's disappointed expression. "You're sorry you missed it?"

"Only the part where they beat the crap out of him." Jack clarified. "What did he tell us?"

"There is a new Goa'uld who calls himself Anubis." Hammond began to explain the situation. "He knows about the second Earth and used Kinsey and NID to make the slayers attack us. However his other intentions remain unknown. Anubis was exiled by the other System Lords about six hundred years ago and everyone took for granted he was dead. He wants to regain his former position and is looking for some artifacts that would give him more power when they are combined with the blood of the Key. Dawn's and Buffy's blood seem to have some kind of magical properties, that's why Anubis and Kinsey kidnapped Buffy and Dawn. The set is based on technology as well as magic and it wouldn't work without their blood. To control the Key, NID drugged Buffy and tried the same process with Dawn, but the drug wasn't effective enough to overpower the natural resistance of a slayer and Dawn had cast a spell to protect her from the effect of chemicals. I think we should concentrate on finding the artifacts. Kinsey knows only about three of them. The first is Ra's eye, which Anubis found a month ago on Abydos. (A/N Two years sooner then in the show. I made up the second artifact.) The second item is Apophis's staff and the third and most powerful is some kind of axe. Kinsey has no idea where the axe is, but he knows the location of the staff. "

"Let me guess." Jack interrupted Hammond. "He didn't tell Anubis he found the staff because he wanted the power for himself."

"Which gives us a chance to stop whatever Anubis's plan is." Jacob entered the conference room.

"Dad!" Sam rushed to her father and hug him."I thought you had an important mission. "

"The Tok'ra Council suspended almost all our operations the moment you sent us the message Anubis is alive." Selmak explained. "I'm afraid you don't realize how serious threat Anubis represents. Once again your overestimated self-confidence means danger for your planet."

"So enlighten the benighted, oh powerful Tok'ra. Bless us with your knowledge." Jack snorted. He hated when the Tok'ra treated him as someone who had no idea what he was getting into.

"This really isn't the best time for sarcasm Jack." Jacob replied."Anubis was cast out because his crimes were too much even for the System Lords. His return might change the situation in the whole galaxy. You don't know how many ships and Jaffa he has on his side. "

"We don't know the strength of Anubis's army, but we know what he's looking for." Hammond informed Jacob and turned to Daniel. "Doctor Jackson."

"Apophis staff is on P3X-421, hidden in a temple called by the local inhabitants Naria'Tak which roughly translated means Serpent's Legacy." Daniel explained."NID agents had tried to recover the staff two months before we arrested them, but the temple was too well protected and only one soldier survived. He knows the inner structure of the temple and we plan to take him with us. Apophis is gathering his forces to attack the other System Lords nowadays so the number of guards should be lower then usual. Apophis probably doesn't know the real value of the staff." 

"This NID soldier coming with us. Who is it?" Jack wondered.

"Martin Roberts." Daniel read the agent's name.

"You mean Colonel 'I killed two slayers.' Roberts ?" Jack asked."Thank God Faith isn't here, because...well...I presume we need him alive."

"Roberts will be escorted to SGC in one hour." Hammond informed the others. "I agree with Selmak, we can not allow Anubis to complete the set. SG-1 and Jacob will leave to P3X-421 in 90 minutes."

----

Faith landed the cloaked ship in a valley near the coordinates Angel gave her and they both got out. Angel wasn't very enthused when she described him the situation, especially after he heard that Connor and Fred knew about the stargate and didn't tell him. Faith tried to explain to him, the less people knew about the gate the better, but he was still a little angry that SWC knew about such a serious threat and kept it secret.

Faith followed Angel to a side entrance, which according to his informations was mostly unused. Angel broke the small chain, which was keeping the door shut, and got inside. He knew they had to hurry, because the sun would rise soon and he didn't fancy running back to the ship in full daylight.

"We're lucky there are no guards here." Angel remarked. "We would get into a lot of trouble if we landed in front of the main entrance."

"Demons?"

"Tourists." Angel replied. "There is a large camp site and a motel for anyone who wants to visit the city."

"What's so special about the city?" Faith wondered.

"It was built twelve hundred years B.C. by the Hittites. The name of the city actually means 'Deep well' and it's extent is over 1500 hectare." Angel switched on his flashlight and walked through several rooms until he found stairs and then headed down to lower level. "It has eight floors and could accommodate thirty thousand people. The city was used mostly as a sanctuary during the conflicts between the local demon tribes and the rising Persian empire. It was a holy place no soulless being could enter. Later, when the war was over, several hundred monks stayed and build a hidden altar dedicated to the PTB. It's the only place where a normal human can contact the powers." Angel described the city while they were walking through the various rooms and halls."By the way, I hope you like riddles, because the entrance to the chamber is protected by powerful magic and you'll be asked a question to prove you're worthy."

"Great. Exams." Faith nervously ran her hand through her hair."One of the many reasons I left high school. What happened to those who didn't answer correctly?"

"Most of them ended up in a hospital with burned skin and broken bones. Offensive magic is a good way to keep the number of evil humans, who try to get inside, at minimum." Angel smirked. "Oh ... that definitely won't happen to you ... I'm sure." he quickly added when he saw Faith's resentful expression.

Angel walked to the left wall in the last room on the eight floor and raked off the sand that covered a small lever. He touched it with a magicaly enhanced dagger he got from Wesley earlier and the lever began to glow with soft green light. He turned it to the right and the rear wall of the room disappeared.

Faith saw the passage to the hidden chamber, but hesitated. She came there to find out what's going on but when the answers were within her grasp, she got scared of what would be revealed. The fact she'd have to solve a riddle to enter didn't help much. She saw Angel giving her an encouraging smile so she took a deep breath and stepped into the corridor.

Faith expected to experience some kind of change in the passage, however when she got inside, she didn't feel any different so she just continued walking through the corridor, wondering when the trial will begin, but nothing happened and she soon reached the hidden chamber. She looked around and noticed the it wasn't much bigger then other rooms in the underground city. The walls were decorated by large colored pictures of animals and graffitos. Faith couldn't recognize the various languages - the oldest were cuneiform, the newer were medieval Latin. The room was lit by four white crystals, one in each corner and in the middle of the room was a lapidary altar in the shape of a kneeling woman. Faith noticed something strange. It seemed that whoever was supposed to take care of the chamber, had a really long holiday because there were spider webs on the walls and the altar itself was covered by a thick layer of dust. 'This place was abandoned at least one year ago.' Faith thought and wanted to leave, but then she noticed a shoe behind the altar. She ran to the middle of the room and saw a short man with dark hair lying on the floor, dressed in brown trousers, green shirt and a brown coat. Faith put her hand on his neck to check his pulse and was surprised when she found out his heart was still beating. The man was holding a small green glowing crystal in his hand and though Faith was no expert, she was sure the crystal was the only reason he was still breathing, because his body was covered with the same amount of dust as everything else.

Faith wondered how long he was inside and more importantly why didn't he leave. She picked him up carefully, making sure he wouldn't loose the crystal and carried him outside the chamber. He was very light, even though the magic keeping him alive obviously took care of supplying his body with enough food and water. In the beginning Faith thought the man was just sleeping, but now she realized, his state looked much more as a coma.

Angel was a little shocked when he saw Faith leave the passage with a man in her arms. How could somebody survive inside the chamber? Faith laid the man on the floor and began searching through his pockets. "I found him inside. Perhaps he has an ID." she explained.

Angel wanted to help her, but stopped when he saw the man's face. "That's not necessary. I know him, he is a demon working for the powers. His name is Whistler."

----

Jack and the rest of his team followed Colonel Roberts and headed to Serpent's Legacy through a beech forest, or at least Jack thought the trees were beeches. Jack didn't really care what kind of trees or bushes surrounded them as long as there were no hidden Jaffa preparing an ambush. Till now the mission was much easier then he expected. There were no soldiers protecting the stargate and the villagers told them the temple had less then ten guards. The both suns almost reached the horizon and it would be dark soon, which would give them another advantage, because no matter how advanced techology the Goa'uld possessed, it seemed they never heard about night vision. The equipment of a Jaffa was quite primitive - all they carried was a staff weapon and usually a zat gun or a stun grenade. Without a targeting system a staff weapon was useless for longer distances and a good sniper could kill a dozen Jaffa before they got close enough to endanger him. That's why Jack and Teal'c were carrying two M24's fitted with with silencers on their backs.

The group was still five hundred meters away from the temple when Roberts suggested to stop and leave the path. He wasn't sure when the guard-changing takes place and fighting a group of Jaffa on the path would alert the security in the temple. The Jaffa who were off duty lived in a nearby village and would probably rush to help the guards as well. They continued walking thirty meters to the right from the path until they were two hundred meters away from the guards. A perfect distance for taking out the soldiers one by one, Jack thought, took one M24 and gave the other one to Carter. Meanwhile Teal'c tied Roberts to a tree and gagged him. Jack wasn't sure how Roberts would react if he had a chance to betray them and he didn't plan to find out in the most unsuitable moment.

The temple itself had the shape of a small pyramid with only one entrance, which was lit by several torches and all ten Jaffa were near it. Hidden behind a small shrub, Jack and Sam waited until the guards stopped walking and fired at the two who were closest to them. The Jaffa fell down to the ground and the others began to look around franticly. Before they realized what was happening Jack and Sam reduced their numbers by another two. The rest began to run towards the other end of the green field in front of the temple, where they expected the enemy was hidden. If Jack had enough time to do so, he would start shaking his head, because from his point of view, only an idiot can run over an open space and hope he'll get close enough to a sniper without a hole in his stomach. Teal'c and Daniel were prepared to kill any soldier that would get too close, but it wasn't necessary - all Jaffa were dead before they reached the middle of the meadow.

Jack knew they should hurry, because they still didn't know when the guards were supposed to change. He untied Roberts who showed them how to unlock the door and deactivate the shield protecting it. It was quite simple - there were three golden levers in the shape of a serpent on the wall and all he had to do was turn the three serpents so they would face each other. Roberts told them the staff was in the middle of the pyramid, in a hall with three entrances. It was necessary to pass all three simultaneously or the security system would close the pyramid and start a countdown. Then they would have only about five minutes to leave the pyramid before a naquadah bomb would turn it into a big crater. Roberts was sure there were transport rings somewhere, in case a Goa'uld would stay inside, but he had no idea where to look for them. Jack was against splitting his team into three parts. It would make them much more vulnerable and he wasn't sure if Roberts didn't make it up to get a chance to escape.

"Sir. We can't risk starting the countdown." Carter objected.

"All right, but if anything happens, I'm not the one who explains it to Hammond." Jack announced. "Daniel and Carter will take the first entrance, Roberts will go with Teal'c." , he ordered.

The others nodded and left to the north and west side of the pyramid, while Jack continued to the middle from the south. He reached the door leading inside sooner then the other two groups and waited. Roberts told Jack all they had to do was touch the eyes of the serpents pictured on the three doors. If he was lying, Jack would make sure he would never leave the temple. Jack's train of thoughts was interrupted by a the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned around but couldn't see anyone.

"Teal'c, Daniel?" Jack said nervously into his transmitter. "Where are you right now?"

"We almost reached the second entrance O'Neill." Teal'c answered. "We are already in front of the first door." Daniel replied.

Jack aimed at the corner where he heard the footsteps. "Come out with your hands up!" he shouted, but nothing happened.

'Didn't work.' Jack thought. 'Let's try something else.' "Kre!", he yelled.

"It's interesting that the first thing you tried was: with your hands up!" a young blonde man dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket came out from behind the corner, smiling at Jack. "You know, not everyone in the galaxy can speak English."

"But you obviously can." Jack snorted, aiming his P-90 at the man's heart."So I want to see your hands above your head. Now!"

The stranger didn't obey and got a few steps closer to Jack, still smiling. "And what if I don't?"

"This." Jack shrugged, lowered his weapon and fired at the man's leg. The stranger fell to the ground and Jack waited for several seconds if he tries to stand up. When his body didn't move at all, Jack went to see how badly he hurt him. As soon as Jack kneeled next to him, all of a sudden the man grabbed Jack by his throat and and threw the surprised Colonel almost four meters away. Jack landed hard on the floor and was slowly standing up, feeling pain from the impact spread through his body. He saw the stranger simply ignored the hole in his leg and was smiling again. Jack couldn't understand how it was possible and prepared to fire at him again.

"Colonel O'Neill." the man shook his head. "Didn't the slayers teach you anything..." he got a step closer to Jack and his features changed into game face."...about vampires?"

----

Buffy slowly opened her eyes and stood up, looking around the room. Her vision was a little blurry, like the last time she did the revealing spell. So far everything seemed to be normal, except the photographs of Dawn, whose figure was periodically appearing and disappearing. In spite of the fact she knew this would happen, it was still painful for her to see the origin of her sister was fake. Buffy left her room and walked down the hall, studying her surroundings and the people she met. She was a little frustrated she couldn't recognize any spell on any of them. She continued strolling around the manor, hoping she would find at least a sign a spell was used on them. When she reached the main hall she was ready to give up, but then something got her attention. There was a large map hanging on one of the walls. It was a hand drawn copy of Kepler's celestial map from the 18'th century. Buffy watched it carefully for a while and could swear the positions of the stars were changing.

When she got closer she realized not only the stars changed, but the shape of various constellations was different as well. The map was fake.

Buffy wasn't sure what it meant, but was she beginning to suspect the map wasn't the only thing that was different. Why would someone change a map? Suddenly she got an idea. If the positions of the stars were changed then... Buffy ran to the ring transport situated in the main hall and activated it. A second later she reappeared in the warehouse and looked around. She saw a few slayers, who were currently on duty and guarded the entrance and the stargate. Even though the gate was protected by Willow's spell, that made any visitor who didn't belong to SWC unable to move and deactivated any electronic device the visitors would carry, Buffy insisted there will be always at least ten slayers inside to protect it.

All items in the warehouse seemed to be real so Buffy turned her attention to the stargate. It was deactivated at that moment and Buffy fetched a sight of relief it was still there. However when she looked at it for the second time, the gate shimmered and disappeared.

To be continued.

Review appreciated.


	22. Puzzle pieces part 3

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 21 - Puzzle pieces-part 3

Jack fired at the vampire running towards him but the bullets leaving the barrel of his weapon weren't able to stop the approaching demon. The vampire moved so fast only few shots hit him and as soon as he reached Jack, he kicked the P-90 out of his hands. Jack tried to draw his knife and stab his opponent, however he was too slow and the vampire grabbed his hand and pressed it so hard Jack dropped his last weapon. The man pulled the struggling Colonel closer and lowered his head to Jack's neck. Jack felt the sharp teeth sink into his skin and his will to resist was quickly leaving his mind. The feeling of danger and necessity to defend himself was replaced by a sensation of enjoyment and satisfaction. Deep in his mind Jack still knew he was supposed to fight back, but a connection between a vampire and his victim is too strong to withstand, even for a trained soldier. Jack was almost angry when the pleasurable feeling abruptly disappeared.

The vampire drinking Jack's blood forgot to pay attention to what was happening around him and he screamed in pain as a blast from Teal'c's staff hit his back exactly in the height of his heart. The vampire's body began to smoke immediately and caught fire a second later. Before Jack realized what happened, there was only a pile of dust left on the floor behind him. Jack carefully touched his neck, still not sure, if what just happened was real. The drops of the crimson liquid on his finger tips made him snap out of the rapture and concentrate on the current situation.

"I thought you might require my assistance O'Neill." Teal'c helped Jack stand up. "Considering the description the slayers gave us, that creature was a vampire."

"Where is Roberts?" Jack asked, when he saw Teal'c came alone.

"I asked Daniel Jackson and Major Carter to get him while I ran to help you." Teal'c explained.

Jack noticed a figure moving noiselessly behind Teal'c. In any other situation Jack would think it was a Goa'uld, as soon as he saw the yellow eyes, but this time he knew better. Before the vampire had a chance to attack, Jack grabbed Teal'c's staff and fired, aiming at the heart. The figure flared up the same way as the first vampire and illuminated the corridor for a few seconds. Jack saw another two figures run to him from the west hallway and almost fired again, but then he recognized, the two were the rest of his own team.

"Roberts is gone." Daniel and Sam informed the others while they rushed to the corridor. "He closed himself in the central room. The story about opening all doors simultaneously was a lie to split us up and give him a better chance to escape."

"I knew it!" Jack hit the wall to his right with his fist. "Well, I'm curious how he'll get out of a pyramid full of vampires by himself." Jack took out his transmitter and called Jacob, who stayed in a hall near the entrance to study the ancient writings on the walls, hoping he would find out why was Anubis looking for the staff. "Jacob. We're leaving."

"That's what I was about to suggest." Jacob whispered quietly, hidden behind a column close to the entrance, while several vampires ran inside the pyramid. Looking up to the sky, he watched a Ha'tak descend through the clouds and launch a wing of death gliders which immediately attacked the village where Apophis's Jaffa were stationed. In the dim moonlight Jacob couldn't see much from the fight, he only recognized Apophis's soldiers tried to hold back the attackers, but they were seriously outnumbered and Jacob knew that after the gliders destroy the village, they probably start guarding the temple, which meant he and SG-1 had to hurry.

When Jack's team reached the exit, each of them picked up a staff weapon from the guards they killed few minutes sooner and Teal'c gave a staff to Jacob as well.

"Vampires." Jack explained shortly. "Aim at the heart."

"Sir, are you really sure, the creatures were vampires?" Carter questioned Jack's opinion about their enemies.

"My neck is sure enough to persuade Janet to quarantine me for the rest of the week." Jack replied sulkily, observing the descending Ha'tak. "Let me guess, Anubis came for the staff."

The five of them started running towards the stargate, hoping the trees will give them enough cover to remain unnoticed by the gliders. Instead of following the path, they slipped through the forest to avoid any Jaffa patrols or other groups of vampires on the way. In the beginning, Jack was ruminating about how the demons got into the temple, considering the slayers controlled the stargate on their planet, but when his team reached the gate and stopped to find out if there are any guards, Jack saw a group of ten Jaffa talk to several vampires, which meant they worked together for Anubis. Jack signed to his team to stay in cover and thought about possible ways to get rid of the guards. Sneaking and using a knife or a stake was pointless. Jack already had the opportunity to find out how keen senses, speed and strength a vampire possessed and he knew a hand-to-hand combat was too risky. On the other hand using staff weapons would definitely alert the gliders and Jack mentally kicked himself for leaving both M24s in the temple. In the end he decided to attack from distance and took out a hand-grenade from his bag, while the others prepared to take care of anyone who survives the explosion.

Hidden behind a large granite stone, Jack threw the grenade, aiming at the middle of the group of enemies. He soon realized, he slightly overestimated his strength, because the grenade didn't reach it's target and exploded a few meters in front of the Jaffa. Fortunately the strength of the blast was enough to kill half of them and sent the rest flying towards the gate. In contrast to the injured Jaffa, who needed some time to regain their footing, the five vampires stood up in an instant and it took them less then a second to locate the one who attacked them. Jack expected this and pretended he was trying to escape to lure them to the others. The vamps swallowed the bait and charged at Jack, which led them right into SG-1's line of fire. When the staff blast began to strike them down, they tried to fall back, but it was too late and they all ended as a burned pile of dust.

Jack threw away the staff weapon he carried, picked up his P-90 and fired at the Jaffa, who survived the explosion of the grenade. He couldn't risk they call reinforcements. Jack ordered Daniel to enter the address of Earth, while the others watched the night sky, ready to give him cover in case a glider would appear, but it seemed all crafts were above the temple. Jack wasn't surprised Anubis didn't bother to send more forces to stop them - he had what he came for. Jack looked at the landing Ha'tak for the last time and followed the rest of his team and Jacob into the wormhole.

----

John was walking through the halls of the manor and looking for Dawn. The previous day Buffy used a polite excuse to kick him out of the infirmary and later Willow and Xander didn't allow him to talk to Dawn either. He hoped to get a chance to explain to Dawn why he lied to her and he wondered if she already knew about it. He stopped in front of the wooden double-wing door leading to her room, summoned all courage he had left and knocked.

Dawn partially opened the door and curiously peeped into the hall. The smile gracing her face faded away as soon as she saw John and she slammed the door shut with such force it almost left it's hinges.

'Well, this answers the question if she already knows about it', John thought. "Dawn I need to talk to you. I need to explain."

"What a bad luck. Right now, I don't want to listen." Dawn snapped.

"Just give me one minute.", John beseeched. "Then you can curse me and avoid me for the rest of your life if you want."

Dawn slowly opened one door leaf with a grim expression, trying to control her temper."You have three minutes to persuade me you're not an idiot. The stage is yours, make me cry. Perhaps you want to start with a story about a rough childhood."

"Ok. I deserved that. But what I did ... lying to you ... was necessary. I know Hammond and SGC and you have to believe me I'd never agree to take a sender to your planet if I thought they'd use it to attack. We needed to know the location of your planet to start the negotiations and this was the fastest way to find out."

"A great plan." Dawn paused for a moment before continuing on bitterly." The idea to ... let's say ... ask me, ever crossed your mind?"

"And say what exactly?",John disagreed."Something like: Hey, I know our organizations fight against each other and all, but can you please take me with you? And by the way what's the stargate address of your homeworld?" John gave a slight sigh. "Dawn even if SGC didn't want me to go, I would try to help you with Bauer and NID, but you wouldn't take me with you if SG-1 didn't pretend to chase us and I just asked you."

"You know what the worst part is?" Dawn replied sadly. "I would." She turned away from John and left quickly to the main hall. John wanted to follow her, but was stopped by a strong arm on his shoulder.

"I have to go." John tried to get rid of the arm holding him.

"If you really miss the infirmary so much and want to spend there the next week, then go and talk to her now, but if I were you I'd give her time to calm down." Xander remarked.

"I screwed up." John watched the curve of the corridor where Dawn disappeared. "She'll never forgive me."

"Of course she will." Xander assured him. "Let me give you a little introduction to Summers Women 101. There are three simple rules to follow. The most important one is: A Summers is too good-natured to stay angry for a longer period of time, however approaching her during this time is extremely dangerous. The second is: When she tells you you're an idiot, you agree, look down and at least try to pretend you feel terribly sorry for whatever you've done."

"And the third?"

"Oh that's: Never say she's short." Xander grinned." Holds true only for Buffy. Don't underestimate this rule, there are many demons rotting in the ground who thought she's an easy prey because of her height."

"Definitely won't forget that one." John nodded and wanted to leave, but was stopped by Xander once more.

"One more thing." Xander added. "In her short life, Dawn experienced more pain and grief then most people and what she certainly doesn't need is another disappointment. I hope you're old enough to understand that if you hurt her again, the slayers will be your least problem."

"You have never caused pain to someone, even though you had the best intentions?"

"I did." Xander remembered his unfinished wedding. "Her name was Anya, we wanted to get married and I got scared and canceled the wedding. If I had known at that moment how little time she had left..." Xander closed his eye for a few seconds and let the images of him and Anya appear in his mind. "Make sure this won't happen to you John. The only really useful advise I can give you is: It's always worth trying.", he added. "I think we should go. They're probably waiting for us."

Xander and John left to the main hall together, where they saw Buffy, Willow, Faith, Dawn and Giles together with Angel and Riley discussing something.

"The stargate is fake, as well as the documents about Watchers Council using it." Buffy informed the others. "The position of the Earth was different, there were obviously nine planets in our solar system before the spell was cast, the same planets Tauri has. But the strangest fact is, the Tok'ra maps don't show our solar system at all. Add it up and what do you get? We're not supposed to be here."

"I have other disturbing news.", Angel announced thoughtfully. "I called a friend, who knows a seer, who used to have the contact to PTB and he told me the seer lost his powers, in the same time as Lorne. Also the chamber where we found Whislter used to be protected by magic, but now anyone can enter the passage. It's like the PTB lost their powers."

"Can we wake Whistler up?" Dawn suggested. "I bet he knows what caused this mess."

"The crystal he is holding in his hand is keeping him alive and it's also regenerating his body." Willow described Whistler's condition. "I used magic to speed up the process, but I think it takes at least a week before he wakes up."

"And in the meantime we'll just sit on our asses and do nothing?" Dawn frowned. "What about the demons? Did you find anything?"

"I sent five teams to various locations where large groups of demons were spotted the last time before they disappeared." Riley shook his head, confused by the complicated situation. "There are no traces of the residual magical energy that usually remains after opening a portal, which means..."

"...most of them didn't escape to another dimension." Dawn finished the idea. "So the one-million dollar question is: Where are they?"

----

Two vampires dragged the unconscious Roberts to the control room of Anubis's mothership, while the third was carrying Apophis's staff. The three bowed before the Goa'uld and gave him the artifact he desired. The staff itself had the shape of a small cobra with golden skin and opened mouth, baring it's sharp white teeth.

"Master. This man was accompanying SG-1." one of the vampires informed Anubis. "We found him in the temple. Do you want us to kill him?"

"No, I have a better use for him." Anubis leisurely waved his hand and the Jaffa standing next to his throne picked Roberts up and took him to the ship's laboratory. "Till now all our attempts to combine a vampire and a symbiont have failed. However my scientists succeeded in modifying one symbiont to surpass the natural resistance of a vampire, which was preventing an infestation and I think we've just found a volunteer. You may go now.", he added.

The three vampires stood up and walked out of the room. Anubis watched them leave and turned to the brown haired man standing on his left. "The demons and vampires you delivered are really effective as soldiers. In the last years, the plans of many Goa'uld were thwarted by SG-1 and Tauri defeated a lot of their warriors. I'm pleased the vampires were able to secure the staff."

"The employees of Wolfram and Hart always do anything to satisfy their clients." Lindsey smirked. "Our senior partners are interested a lot in this alliance. Now all we need is the last artifact and the set is complete."

"Yes." Anubis nodded. "The most powerful part, the one that started everything."

Anubis took the staff and picked up Cronus's ring and Ra's eye, which he connected two weeks before. The two items were already stained with Dawn's and Buffy's blood. He carefully attached the ring and the eye to the snake's mouth and then took a vial filled with blood and let a few drops fall on the staff. When the drops landed on the artifact, it began to glow with soft green light and the edges of the three items merged.

----

Dawn was in the main hall and talking to Buffy about the possible reasons why all seers lost the contact with the PTB when she suddenly noticed a familiar feeling of power flowing into her body. Dawn remembered the first time she felt the same way. It was during her fight with Vi two weeks before and now the sensation was back and much stronger then the last time. Dawn tried to concentrate and control the energy passing through her body, but she soon realized, she won't be able to keep it inside. She felt like vomiting within the next seconds and went down to her knees, clenching her fists and breathing heavily, drops of cold sweat running down her forehead.

"Dawn, what's wrong?" Buffy desperately watched her sister, not sure what she was supposed to do. "Is something hurting you?"

Dawn outstretched her fingers and small green bolts began to flicker between them. "I need to release..." she clasped her hands and then quickly stretched out her arms. A wave of energy emerged from her fingers and spread through the whole building and it's surroundings. Everyone except Buffy, who seemed to be unaffected by the impulse, was thrown to the ground. The entire system of safety-fuses was immediately fried as well as the circuits in most activated electronic devices. All bulbs and the older cathode-ray tubes blew up, pieces of glass flying in all directions. The fire alarm went mad and within the next minutes the main hall and other rooms were turned into swimming-pools. The impulse shut down all security systems and Willow felt the passing energy crush the magical defences she had set up around the house and other buildings.

Dawn felt the power inside her disappear and slowly stood up, watching the results of her new abilities. Meanwhile, tens of angry and completely soaked slayers and watchers burst into the hall, looking for a potential threat, however they soon realized, there was no enemy to fight, only a lot of destroyed equipment to clean up.

"Whoops." Dawn smiled nervously at Buffy. "You won't ask me to clean all this, will you?"

End chapter.

Please review.


	23. Initial point

Rating:G

Chapter 22 - Initial point

**February 2005, SWC base on Antara**

Daniel and the rest of SG-1 carried two crates into the hangar and started unpacking the parts Carter and Willow planned to attach to the death gliders to make them more suitable for the next mission. The most important were the sonars the technicians from SGC got from three dismounted bathyscaphes and several trinium plates. It's been two day since SG-1 came back from P3X-421 and informed Hammond that Anubis had one less problem to worry about. Kinsey didn't tell them anything new and Daniel wondered why Buffy insisted to talk to the former senator right after Jack told her Anubis had another part of the set. She was supposed to visit him today and Daniel hoped she'll be able to control her temper when she'll face the man who kidnapped her.

"Carter, you do realize we won't be able to see anything with trinium plates all around the cockpit, don't you?" Jack opened one of the crates and picked up a special plasma arc welder Sam wanted to use to attach the trinium.

"Sir. We plan to enter a Goa'uld stronghold through an underground river. The crafts were not constructed as submarines and without a better protection, the compression would crush the cockpit within a few minutes. The depth of the cave the river flows through is over fifteen hundred meters, which means the pressure inside is one hundred and fifty times greater then the Earth's atmospheric pressure. We wouldn't see anything in the deep water anyway - there is no light and even mounting headlights on the gliders wouldn't help, because the water is very dirty. At least according to the informations the Tok'ra gave us."

"Yeah. Annisse." Jack growled. "Let's talk about reliable sources. I wouldn't be surprised if the base didn't belong to Anubis at all and we ended up visiting Baal's graduation party. Also straying through a Goa'uld sewer with sonar as the only navigation system isn't my idea of a funny weekend." Jack protested against Carter's plan.

"We have to switch off the Goa'uld active sensors, because they are too easy to detect." Carter objected and then decided playing with Jack's pride a little will certainly do the job. "That's why we take only three gliders and the best pilots. You, Teal'c and one from SWC.", she added.

"Yeah, who is this Top Gun guy anyway?"

The massive gate leading to the hangar slowly opened, letting in the beams of the warm afternoon sun and a single death glider slipped inside. The ship hurled towards the group with an amazing speed and Jack almost wanted to duck and cover when the glider suddenly stopped only a few inches in front of him, hovering one meter above the floor. The hood of the cockpit opened, revealing a brown haired figure, dressed in black leather pants and jacket.

"Hi." Faith grinned mischievously at Jack. "Ready for a ride?"

----

It was three hours after sunset when John once again found himself looking for the person who eagerly tried to avoid him for the last two days. It's not like she was swearing or spiting at him every time they met, she just completely ignored his presence. After John searched through the mess hall and the gym, he headed to the last place where he could find her. Xander told him Dawn had used to spend a lot of time on the roof, watching the stars, during the time Buffy had been lost and she had felt alone. John ran up the stairway leading to the flat roof and when he looked around he noticed Dawn lying on one of the mats the slayers used for training ... or sunbathing - the usage depended on the current weather.

"Is this a private marathon of deep consuming depression or can anyone join?" John tried to get Dawn's attention. When Dawn didn't answer and just kept staring at the sky, he lay down on a mat about two meters away from her. 'Pretend you're not obtrusive', John thought, didn't move and waited for Dawn's reaction. If she really wanted him to get lost, she'd have to say it, which meant to actually open her mouth and talk to him. They both lay there for almost a half hour and John began to think Dawn might be already asleep, when she finally broke the silence.

"They're pretty, aren't they?" Dawn remarked, without turning her gaze away from the night sky.

"You mean the stars?" John inquired, happy Dawn decided to accept his presence.

"Yeah. There is a possibility they're all fake, but they are still pretty."

"To be honest I ... I mean Jack never watched them." John confessed. "It's much more practical to be interested in the surrounding bushes, when you're a soldier. Keeps you alive."

"I guess." Dawn agreed thoughtfully. "But I like the feeling. You know ... when you wake up and you see nothing else but stars above your head."

"I understand. That's the moment you find out somebody stole your tent." John tried a lame joke to cheer Dawn up a little and was surprised it worked.

"Oh come on", Dawn smiled. "Jack was never camping when he was young?"

"Just twice. " John smirked. "The first time he lost his virginity, the second time he lost his last two deciduous teeth. No ... wait a minute, I guess it was the other way round."

Dawn burst out laughing and turned on her side to face John." You know what? When you're honest, it's not so bad to have you around."

"Dawn, about what I did..."

"Don't." Dawn butt in on his apology."I already know. Two days ago, during the power boost, I could feel the thoughts of everyone in the hall. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just wasn't sure how to react. Something is happening to me John. "Dawn paused. "Whatever is going on, I'm part of it."

"And you're scared." John nodded."Dawn that's nothing to be ashamed of. If I was experiencing the same stuff as you are I'd have to change my pants ten times a day. You have your sister, Giles, Willow, Xander and many friends who care about you. I don't think you have a reason to be afraid, because they'll protect you."

"Exactly." Dawn sighed. Then she noticed John's puzzled expression and started explaining. "Four years ago, a hellgod named Glory felt a little homesick and decided the best way to solve the problem was to tie me to the top of a tower and bleed me to the death to open a portal to her dimension. The only way to save the world was to kill me before too many demons pass the barriers. Before Buffy and the others went to fight against Glory, she told them she'd kill anyone who would try to hurt me. In the last minute Buffy realized she can save me by jumping into the portal and she sacrificed her own life. I was able to read her thoughts two days ago and I know she's ready to do it again. Only this time, I won't let her."

"Do you really think it will go so far?" John doubted Buffy would intentionally hurt or even kill a human.

"I'm afraid she'll do anything and sacrifice anyone to protect me."

----

Buffy entered Kinsey's cell in area 51, smiled at the guard who accompanied her and politely asked him if he could wait outside. Since she had been checked like ten times if she wasn't carrying any weapons, the soldier was very obliging and left the room. The fact Buffy was only about three years younger then the guard and her flirtation with him during the way to the cell also helped a lot to make him quickly forget any objections. There were still two cameras watching the situation in the cell, but Buffy didn't mind. During the time she had been in the control room and the soldiers had been calling to SGC to confirm her identity, she had noticed the guards were much more interested in the national baseball championship then the base security.

"To be honest, I expected you sooner." Kinsey remarked when he saw who his visitor was.

Buffy didn't answer and sat down, facing the man who caused her so much trouble. In silence she put out a small bag from her pocket, shook out it's chalky content on her opened hand and muttered a few words in a language Kinsey had newer heard before. Buffy blew the white powder into his face and calmly waited for results.

In the beginning Kinsey couldn't feel any change, but then his throat began to hurt. "What did you do to me?" he coughed, holding his neck.

"In the books it's called the neck compressing powder, but the tribesmen who invented it simply named it the Breath Taker, which I personally find much more catchy. It will enlarge the tissue in your larynx to the point you won't be able to breathe." Buffy informed him leisurely. "However that's not what you should be interested in right now. From your point of view, the only really important thing is, you have exactly..." Buffy took a glance at her watch. "...two minutes and thirty five seconds to explain what's happening to Dawn before you lose the ability to speak. And please don't try to alert the guards, they won't be able to help you anyway. Dawn is somehow connected to the set, isn't she?"

"I don't know!" Kinsey cried out. "Maybe. We were taking samples of Dawn's and your blood during the time you were kidnapped. It's possible that using the blood created a connection."

"Then tell me about the set. What's the last part, what is it's power, how is it possible Anubis used vampires to get Apophis's staff.", Buffy demanded.

"Anubis has allies from your planet who helped him to recruit demons as soldiers." Kinsey hawked. "I have never met them. And all I know about the set is that the parts Anubis already has are only a power source. It's the last one - the axe that will give him the means to defeat other System Lords. Now give me the damned antidote!"

"Antidote?" Buffy leaned closer to Kinsey so her face was only a few inches from his own and whispered. "I've never said I have one."

Kinsey was shocked beyond words when he saw Buffy stand up and head to the door. The pain in his throat increased so much it was almost unbearable. "There is nothing else I could tell you!" ,he shouted out.

Buffy stopped in front of the door and turned around, her face showing no remorse. "I hope so, because next time I certainly won't use a powder with a temporary effect.", she warned him and left the room. She noticed the soldier who accompanied her previously was talking to a Sergeant in the end of the hallway and evidently had no idea what happened inside the cell. She walked to him and let him escort her to the exit of the base.

----

"We've reached the planet's orbit. Alpha, beta and gamma prepare to separate your gliders from the ships." the navigator of the leading Alkesh advised the pilots. The crew of the first glider were Jack and Carter, in the second were Teal'c and Daniel and the last was occupied by Faith and Buffy. Jack wasn't sure if Buffy was the best choice for this mission. She seemed unusually quiet since she returned from area 51. She reduced her conversation skills to one-word sentences and every time somebody asked her if there was a problem she answered: I'm fine. Jack didn't need to be a psychologist to recognize something was very wrong. However Faith insisted on going with Buffy and he agreed to avoid another argument. Perhaps Buffy was just bored - the trip to the planet was quite uneventful.

The three Alkesh slowly entered the nitric atmosphere on the opposite side of the planet to remain undetected, with the gliders attached to the bottoms of the ships and covered by their cloaking fields. The planned entry point to the underground river was a large lake in a rain forest close to the tenth parallel. The tropical area was surrounded by mountains, which would increase the probability the ships remain hidden from the Goa'uld sensors. As soon as their height sank bellow hundred meters, the couplings holding the smaller crafts disconnected and the gliders lunged towards the water level, spattering gallons of the pellucid liquid when they flew through it. The Alkesh crews watched them disappear in the water and then landed near the shore and waited for their return.

The water was much cleaner then they presumed and Jack curiously observed shoals of various kinds of fishes and other animals he wasn't able to identify swimming around their ships. He was always confident when he was flying a glider in the outer space, but now in the subaqueous environment he felt a little claustrophobic and he expected this feeling to increase a lot once the trinium plates around the cockpit would be deployed.

"When exactly will we switch off the Goa'uld sensors and use the armour?" Jack asked his co-pilot.

"The polymeric glass can withstand approximately six megapascals, which corresponds to the depth of six hundred meters. We need to deactivate the sensors before we leave the lake and enter the river." Carter explained.

"But isn't an active sonar easy to detect as well?" Jack wanted to know.

"It is." Carter nodded, a little surprised by Jack's knowledge. "That's why I modified the sonar to shuffle the sound frequencies created by reptiles living in this lake.", she added with sincere enthusiasm.

"Carter." Jack arched his eyebrow in irritation. "I ask just out of curiosity ... about how big animals are we talking right now? I mean the Tok'ra would warn us if these creatures were dangerous, wouldn't they?"

"Well..." Carter tried to sound confident and was thinking of a way to explain Jack Annisse didn't give them any other informations except the frequencies. "...most of them aren't bigger then..."

"...a middle-sized shopping center." Faith cut in. "Look to the right."

Jack did what he was told and observed a dark green snake-like creature move in the opposite direction with amazing speed and precision. Jack guessed it had about the same diameter as a subway tunnel. It's jaw was large enough to swallow the whole ship, it's back and sides were covered by outer skeleton with a great deal of sharp peaks and Jack was sure any of those could cut his glider in half. Fortunately the mass of flesh and bones seemed to be more interested in the plants floating near their wing and Jack prayed it wasn't thinking about adding new dishes to it's everyday menu.

"Carter." Jack addressed his second in command. "Somehow the idea 'We need a bigger boat' appeared in my mind."

"This creature seems to be a vegetarian O'Neill." Teal'c joined the conversation. "I don't see a reason to worry, because it won't attack us, unless we attempt to kill it." Teal'c paused thoughtfully."However according to the National Geographic DVD you lent me a month ago, the carnivores are usually on the top of the food chain, which means an animal able to hunt and devour this snake probably lives in the lake as well."

"Thanks Teal'c." Jack shifted anxiously in his seat. "I feel much better now."

"You're welcome." Teal'c's face twitched slightly and only a person who had known him for a long time would recognize he was amused.

"We are reaching the critical depth." Carter read the informations from the sensors. "I'm deploying the armour."

"And the new international blind-man's-buff championship begins. I really hope the data in the stronghold will be worth it." Jack muttered and watched the trinium plates envelop the cockpit and block his view. The three ships carefully entered the stream that would bring them to the water reservoir supplying Anubis's base.

----

Kennedy left Giles, Fred and the rest of the group researching the latest events and headed to the infirmary to check up on Willow, who was looking after Whistler. Kennedy sighed. She could think of more enjoyable 'activities' for her and Willow then spending the night sitting next to a sick balance demon.

"So how's the research party?" Willow smiled sympathetically at her girlfriend. She knew Kennedy wasn't a book worm and digging up informations from old musty tomes certainly wasn't her idea of a funny evening. "Did you find anything about the spell that created stargate? The reason why would somebody give it to us? Why we don't have a contact to the PTB?"

"No, no and ... no." Kennedy sat down next to Whistler's bed, frustrated about the results, looking at the sleeping demon. "Any sign he's about to wake up?", she asked.

"I'm adding another 'No' to the collection." Willow touched the crystal he was still holding in his hand. "I think it won't take long though, because Dawn's energy obviously sped up the regeneration process."

"Well, since our patient is doing so fine we could..." a wicked grin appeared on Kennedy's face.

"You know we can't leave him alone here." Willow sighed sadly.

"Ok. Then I guess I'll have to find another not-so-straight witch I can spend the night with." Kennedy teased. "There is a really cute blonde in the Coven who wanted to show me her stamps collection."

"Do you know that in England is blackmailing your girlfriend qualified as a crime?" Willow pretended to be serious.

"Oh." Kennedy's raised her eyebrow playfully. "Will you punish me?"

"We can't..." Willow was silenced by a tender kiss. Kennedy pulled Willow into her lap, her hands slid up the redhead's sides, mapping out the delicate curves. Willow slowly covered the girl's mouth with her own, giving herself over to the sensations and began to stroke gently Kennedy's hair. She slightly parted her lips to give the other girl a better access and moaned when Kennedy's tongue urgently thrust into her mouth. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation, however when Kennedy's hand somehow found a way under her blouse, she got suddenly scared someone might see them and broke the kiss.

Kennedy realized the reason why Willow stopped, but she wasn't ready to give up so easily. She began to run the tip of her tongue along Willow's jaw and neck, and then concentrated on her girlfriend's earlobes. "Don't worry." she whispered seductively. "They're all in full research mode. Nobody will come here."

"Kennedy. Giles..." Willow tried to get Kennedy's attention by tapping on her shoulder.

"Giles is explaining the fascinating origin of the Byzantine god of Correct Pronunciation." Kennedy slid her right hand to Willow's chest and started to lift her blouse with the other.

"No, I mean Giles..." Willow doubted her face could get a deeper shade of red.

"Stop worrying about Giles Will." Kennedy didn't understand why Willow was so distracted. "I'm sure he is buried in Gothic scrolls right now. Or do you feel sorry for him, because he's not getting any and ..." Kennedy paused." ...he is standing behind me, isn't he?"

"Hello Kennedy." Giles began to vehemently polish his glasses to avoid seeing even more disturbing images. "Perhaps you two should get some rest and I will look after Whistler."

"Uh...yeah, good idea." both girls agreed, happy they could escape from the embarrassing situation. They rushed out of the room and headed together to the main hall.

"Well. I'm sure he'll knock next time." Kennedy giggled. "Ready to finish what we started?"

"Yes, but this time behind a locked door and a silencing charm." Willow smirked. Perhaps the evening won't be that bad after all. "Though I'm sure we have a long lecture about being the role models for young slayers waiting for us tomorrow."

The both women walked towards their room when Willow suddenly got much more serious and looked around suspiciously. "You know, two days ago, Dawn's energy crushed the charms I had set up around the house and also made me much weaker then usual, so the new protection is quite easy to breach." Willow closed her eyes to concentrate on her surroundings. "I think we have some uninvited guests in the gym."

"The gym?" Kennedy didn't understand why would a thief attempt to enter a training area and risk a fight with slayers. "But there is nothing important inside except..." her eyes widened when she realized what the intruders were after. "...the Scythe."

"Giles!" Willow shouted towards the infirmary and hoped he would hear her. "Demons in the gym!"

Willow didn't wait for an answer and ran to the alarm that would usually alert the slayers guarding the house, but then she realized all security systems were out of order because of what happened two days before. Mentally kicking herself for not repairing them right after the accident she and Kennedy hurried to protect the most important artifact the slayers had. Kennedy was the first to reach the building and she spotted three vampires together with a red haired women dressed in a black dress who was holding the Scythe and looked very familiar to her.

"Hi. Long time no see." the redhead greeted her.

"Amy." Kennedy gritted her teeth when she recognized the woman who caused Willow turned into Waren and almost killed her. "This time you won't escape so easily."

"Because you're a slayer?" Amy chuckled. "Enjoy it as long as you can."

"Give me the Scythe and you might leave this building alive." Kennedy threatened the witch.

"I always appreciated your sense of humor." Amy waved her hand and an invisible force threw Kennedy back towards the entrance. "Once again I have to tell you I'm not the bad guy here. I'm just helping to settle the mess created by your friend."

"And you really expect me to believe you?" Kennedy snapped at her. "I didn't hit my head THAT hard you know."

"You mistake me for someone who cares what you believe in." Amy shrugged. "I don't take it personally, I just want to stay alive. Well, it was a pleasure to see you again, but I have to go now." Amy snapped her fingers and her group disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Kennedy alone.

Giles, Willow, Angel and several slayers burst into the gym but it was already too late. Willow tried to focus and locate the destination of Amy's teleportation spell, but the other witch covered her track. They all couldn't believe they were so stupid at let it happen. The Scythe was obviously the last part of the set and the axe Kinsey was talking about. Now Anubis will complete the set and they still had no idea what was it's purpose. Angry and frustrated, they slowly returned to the main building.

"Mr. Giles." a young slayer addressed the oldest watcher when he was heading back to his room.

"What?!" Giles snapped at the her in full ripper mode and the girl took a few steps back. "I'm sorry." he apologized. "What do you need?"

"Fred asked me to bring you back to the infirmary." the slayer replied. "She said Whistler is awake."

"Finally." Giles immediately forgot his previous mood and rushed to meet the messenger of the powers. Entering the room, he saw Whistler covered with sweat and trying to use gestures to explain something to Fred.

"Whistler!" Giles sat down next to the sick balance demon and grabbed his shoulders a little stronger then he originally intended. "Tell me what's happening!"

"Let him go!" Fred tried to weaken Giles's grip. "Don't you realize he's too week to talk?"

"And you apparently don't realize we've probably lost the only reason why Anubis postponed the attack on our planet." Giles stated. "Whistler. Just tell me why is all this happening. Who started it? The Powers That Be?"

Whistler slowly opened his mouth and tried to speak. It was clear every movement caused him a great deal of pain. Giles leaned closer to him to be able to understand his hoarse voice and the demon whispered one name: Buffy.

End chapter.

A/N Ok, in the next chapter I WILL explain what's happening. Promise :-) Please review.


	24. Balance

Rating:PG-13

Chapter 23 - Balance

An almost imperceptible choppiness of the water level in the reservoir was the only sign three gliders were floating near it's ground and carefully rising towards the far end of the machinery which was distilling water from the underground river. The infrared sensors didn't show any living creatures in the factory, so the the ships abandoned the water and landed on a metal platform close to the exit which was one of the few places that wasn't covered by a web of pipes. In case they'd need to escape from the base they'd be able to reach the gliders within a few seconds. However a large pump was still hiding the ships from the sight of an accidental visitor of the hall.

According to the informations the Tok'ra gave them, the objective of their mission was in one of two laboratories somewhere to the south from the reservoir. It was a terminal with access to the main network Anubis used to communicate with his troops and ships. They hoped one of the databases will also contain informations about the set and it's purpose. Knowing the strength of Anubis army and locations of his other bases also wouldn't hurt.

Fortunately the corridor next to the reservoir was lacking any Jaffa and they got close to the lab without being noticed. However the room itself was protected by at least ten guards and there was no way they could defeat them without alerting the whole base.

"Any idea how we get rid of those guards?" Jack asked, observing the group of Anubis's soldiers, hidden behind one of the golden columns.

"What's up with the Goa'uld and the torches?" Buffy shook her head, watching the trays filled with some kind of burning material and not understanding why they use fire in a hi-tech base.

"Well, the first law the System Lords agreed on was that every Jaffa in every ship or base has the right to have a fireplace for his private barbecue." Daniel announced. "What? Is Jack the only one who can make silly inappropriate comments about the Goa'uld?", he added.

"Hey! My quips are cool." Jack objected.

"That's what you think." Faith poured oil on the flame.

"Guys." Buffy cut in. "I just meant that with so many torches, there has to be a first-rate ventilation system or we would soon suffocate. And perhaps one of the ventilation shafts leads to the lab."

"Our maps show the laboratories are completely isolated from the rest of the base's systems." Carter studied the holographic map the Tok'ra gave them. "There is only one way - we have to cut off the communication between these guards and the barracks. I think I can disable the switch controlling this part of the base."

"Ok, Carter and Daniel will destroy the control terminal. Teal'c and Buffy will take care of the guards here and I'll go with Faith to the other lab." Jack ordered.

"Bad idea." Buffy objected. "You should go with Teal'c and I'll go with Faith. You two are not used to work together."

"One slayer and one soldier in both groups is more effective." Jack explained his decision.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Buffy shrugged.

Faith and Jack left to the second research area, carefully looking for any soldier strolling through the corridors, but they soon realized the hallways were abandoned. The Jaffa probably took for granted no one would get so deep into the base without being noticed. They reached the other lab sooner then they expected and waited for Sam and Daniel to tell them they can attack.

"You should use a little less flaring clothes." Jack dropped a hint, studying Faith's black leather pants and jacket.

"Whereas your green outfit really blends with the golden hallways old man." Faith returned.

"At least it's practical." Jack objected. "And stop calling me that."

"We've switched off the communications." Daniel's voice put an end to their conversation. "We'll watch the entrance to this block in case another patrol would appear."

Teal'c, Buffy, Jack and Faith stationed themselves close to the Jaffa, who were still unaware of their presence and attacked the both groups at the same time. The guards were so surprised they lost half men before they fired a single shot and the rest was soon forced to fall back to the labs. Faith kept firing at the opened door to give Jack cover while he sneaked towards the entrance. He took out a Goa'uld grenade and threw it into the room, meanwhile Buffy and Teal'c did the same. A bright flash of white light and the sound of bodies falling to the ground indicated the way was free.

"We've found the terminal." Teal'c stated after he made sure all Jaffa were unconscious. Carter and Daniel quickly returned to the first lab to search the database, while Faith and Jack inspected the second room. Unlike the corridors, the room was lit by a sphere suspended from the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a metal bed shaped as a human body, with attached handcuffs and a few shreds of green cloth lying on it. An empty container the Goa'uld usually used to transport the symbionts was placed next to the wall. Faith spotted pieces of fingernails sticking out of the edges of the metal bed. She examined the edges closer and noticed there were scratches filled with dried blood.

Jack picked up one of the green scraps that had a writing on it. "Rob." Jack read the label. "Carter?", he used his radio to call Sam, "Can you check if there are any prisoners in the base? I think our friend Roberts is here somewhere."

"Wait a minute sir." Carter replied and began to browse the files. It took her a while to find what she was looking for. "There is a reference to an experiment. Anubis apparently tried to combine a vampire with a symbiont, probably to make them even stronger and to use them as hosts. The last test subject was Roberts and it seems he was the only who survived the merger."

"Great." Jack snorted. "That guy was a pain in the ass as a human and now he is some kind of super vampire snake head."

"We've finished downloading the files." Carter informed him. "We have the locations of two other Anubis's strongholds and also the names of worlds where he plans to recruit new soldiers. Quortoth and Pylea. I've never heard of them but the Tok'ra will hopefully know their stargate addresses."

Buffy froze as soon as she heard the two names. So Anubis didn't want just the demons from Earth, he planned to open portals to different dimensions and use them to bring here their armies. That's why the blood of the Key was so important for him. It didn't explain why there were two Earths though. Buffy made a mental note to beat the crap out of Whistler if he doesn't tell her what the heck was going on.

"Leave to the reservoir and wait for us there." Jack ordered. "Faith we should get out of here before someone will notice the guards are not responding and check the communication.", he added. "Faith?" Jack turned around to find out Faith was gone.

"Damn it!" Jack swore. Jaffa and slayers. They're all the same. They all have this stupid melodramatic revenge thing going on. "Carter, you better hurry." he called the others. "I'm afraid the snakes will soon find out they have some uninvited guests."

"What happened O'Neill?" Teal'c inquired.

"What should I say? I've sort of lost my faith in the theory that says we won't be detected." Jack quipped.

"I'll help you find her." Buffy suggested as soon as she realized Faith went after Roberts. If they were in a graveyard and he was just a vampire she would sit down and make bets on how long it will take her to stake him, but this was a completely different situation and she was afraid her sister slayer will lose control and make a mistake.

"Negative." Jack disagreed. "You're not a pilot and if Faith gets hurt, who will fly the glider? Carter will pilot the second ship and you'll leave with her now. That's an order." Jack decided and switched off his transmitter to be able to concentrate on his surroundings.

"I don't have to follow his orders." Buffy stated, not ready to give up so easily. "I'm going anyway."

"Buffy Summers." Teal'c addressed the blond slayer. "Don't you think Faith didn't ask for your help because she needs to face Colonel Roberts alone?"

"No Teal'c." Buffy shook her head angrily. "She went after him alone, because she is stubborn and pig-headed as I used to be and it will get her killed. I have to help her."

"I'm afraid that's not an option anymore." Daniel announced after he peeped into the hallway and put a new magazine into his P-90. "They're coming."

Teal'c threw away his weapon and run to his glider. He jumped into the cockpit, activated all systems and flew the ship close to the entrance to the reservoir. Buffy, Daniel and Sam realized what he was about to do and quickly left the area near the door. Hidden behind large pipes which covered most of the floor they waited for Anubis's soldiers. As soon as the Jaffa appeared in the passage, Teal'c started to fire at them from the glider's cannons and didn't give them a chance to get inside.

Faith walked through one of the halls, carefully watching shadows in every corner. She knew Roberts or possibly some other vampire was close. The feeling Giles always described as a slight tingle was now roaring like a bull in her head. Besides Buffy, Faith was the only slayer able to sense demons without seeing them. She wondered if Willow's spell didn't make the other slayers somehow weaker then they should be.

Faith knew leaving Jack and looking for Roberts wasn't dangerous only for her but for the rest of the team as well and she hoped SG-1 will be able to stop Buffy from helping her, because she wanted to fight Roberts alone. Faith had never promised to anyone to go after the murderers of her friends, she hadn't sacrificed a sheep and hadn't sworn a bloody revenge to the gods of slushy involutions, but she felt she owed his death to Lin and Tsu, their parents and also herself.

Faith got inside another hall which was about twenty meters wide and long, was lit by torches and looked like a bigger version of the laboratory she left a few minutes ago. She walked to one of the empty beds and the storage tank standing next to it, but before she reached it, she heard the door she used to enter the hall close. Faith ran back and tried to open it but there was no control panel on this side of the wall.

"Welcome Faith." a voice echoed through the dim lit space of the hall. "You have no idea how glad I am you're here. This place is incredibly boring."

"Better be bored then dead." Faith replied, looking around and trying to figure out where exactly the sound was coming from. "Whoops. I forgot you're both."

"I was hoping we won't skip the insult-your-enemy part of the fight." Roberts laughed, stepping from the shadows right behind Faith and morphed into game face. "It will make killing you much more entertaining."

Faith turned around and tried to aim at him, but he grabbed her weapon and with a force no vampire ever possessed he wrenched it away from her hands and threw it against the nearest wall. Faith was stunned when she saw the impact distorted the almost unbreakable alloy the ASW was made of. She punched her opponent in the face several times, but it was like hitting a concrete wall and he didn't even flinch. Roberts caught her arm, twisted it behind her back and thrust her towards the wall. Faith used the kinetic energy to partially run up the wall and then she used a somersault to get behind him.

"Nice." Roberts smirked and clapped his hands, faking enthusiasm. "But I think we're forgetting something. You didn't tell me why you left behind the rest of your team and risked to come here. Still angry the poor Colonel killed those two slayers? Don't you realize he doesn't control this body anymore?"

"Just another reason to kill you." Faith snorted. "I'm a slayer. We kill your kind."

"Of course." Roberts laughed, finding her statement quite amusing. "You have always been an exemplary slayer, right Faith? You know, the others told me a lot about you. It's interesting how many times I heard the word 'murderer' when they described you."

Faith ran towards him and jumped into a flying kick, which Roberts easily ducked. As soon as Faith landed on the floor he caught one of her legs and tried to pull her closer. Faith expected this move, jumped again and kicked him into his temple with her other leg. He staggered a little, yet he quickly recovered and blocked the next kick aimed at his stomach. He threw a punch at Faith's head and even though she was fast enough to block it, the force behind the blow was so great it knocked her down. Faith rolled backward and stood up quickly, ready to keep fighting, but Roberts didn't continue his attack.

"She came to Sunnydale when she was sixteen. In the beginning she was fighting alongside Buffy and her friends, but she soon turned against them and joined the mayor." Roberts paused for a moment and then continued. "When she woke up from coma, Buffy was ready to help her, but Faith decided to have a little fun with Buffy's mother instead. That was my favorite part.", he added. "After she had escaped from prison, she joined the Sunnydale crew and trained the potential slayers. The first thing she taught them was how to get drunk and how to kick out their leader out of her own house. I think I'm beginning to like you."

"To get rid of Buffy wasn't my decision." Faith mumbled.

"I see." Roberts grinned maliciously. "Staying behind and just watching what's happening doesn't make you responsible, right? I guess your first watcher knows a lot about that. It's a pity she is too decomposed to share this wonderful experience."

Faith charged at him once more and Roberts pinned her against the wall. Using only his right arm he grabbed her throat and lifted her body so her feet couldn't reach the floor. Faith kicked him several times, without causing any real damage.

"And now?" Roberts leaned closer to Faith and whispered. "You think the situation is different, because you have changed. You think that people care about you, because you started to care about them, which is the greatest example of naivety I have ever heard of. News flash Faith. No matter what you do or how many times you help them, they'll always see you as the murderous bitch who tried to kill them."

Faith faked a punch directed at Roberts's eye, used the distraction to grip the thumb on his right hand and twisted it until she heard the bone crack. Roberts roared in pain, released her throat and wanted to punch her, but Faith was fast enough to avoid his fist and he only hit the hard wall. Faith delivered a high kick aimed at his armpit that would dislocate the shoulder of any average vampire, but once again her opponent proved to have much better endurance so she moved away a few steps and got into a fighting stance.

"Does this heap of shit have a point or are you just so stupid to think I'll join your side?" Faith spit out, breathing heavily. She didn't want to show any weakness, but she knew she had to come up with a plan soon. Roberts was stronger and also a little faster then she was. The Goa'uld inside him obviously sped up his healing rate, because the thumb she broke only a minute before was already fully functional, whereas her own body hurt all over.

"You should if you want to live." Roberts shrugged. "These people you call friends, they won't choose you Faith. They'll never choose you. So why do you keep fighting us?"

All of a sudden Faith got an idea how to kill him. Why didn't she think of it sooner? When you don't have a stake, use the second most effective means - fire. She ran to one of the torches, ripped it out of it's post and threw it at her enemy with all force she had left. The torch hit Roberts in the chest, missing his heart by an inch and he easily removed it. Meanwhile Faith got another two torches and was now holding one in each hand and circling Roberts.

"Because stopping now means I haven't learned anything." Faith replied with a glimpse of smile on her lips. "Are we going to finish this or what?"

"One thing you should know about the Goa'uld Faith." Roberts took out a Goa'uld hand weapon and aimed at her. "We're not into fair play."

A shockwave spread from Roberts's arm and sent Faith flying backwards before she had a chance to react. She dropped both torches and hit hard the wall behind her. The impact was so strong she almost lost consciousness and she felt her right arm was probably broken. With a clouded vision and not enough force to move away she saw the Goa'uld aim at her again and then ... he was knocked down by a stream of bullets.

Jack ran to Faith, helped her regain her footing and quickly dragged her out of the hall. He noticed the Goa'uld was still alive and the large amount of metal in his chest didn't seem to bother him. Jack fired at him again, but it only slowed down his recovery.

"He is a vampire." Faith reminded Jack. She took two of Jack's grenades, threw them into the room and hit the control button, closing the door. The corridor shook when the grenades detonated, but when Faith opened the door again she couldn't see Roberts anywhere. She doubted he was killed by the explosion and because they didn't have time or the necessary firepower to finish him, she at least destroyed the panel operating the door to make sure he wouldn't follow them. Supporting Faith's left arm, Jack carefully led them back to the reservoir.

"Are you going to be ok?" Jack asked, watching Faith's condition.

"Give me five minutes and I'll be good as new." Faith replied. "Thanks old man."

"Please remind me. Why am I helping you?" Jack shook his head in irritation.

"Because one day when you'll be too old to fight and your legs too weak to support your body, you'll be sitting in a comfortable armchair near the fireplace in your villa, sipping hot chocolate from your favorite mug and surrounded by a dozen of your friend's annoying grandchildren, you'll need something to brag about. That day you'll tell them with a great pride in your voice: I was there and I helped that crazy bitch to win a war."

"None of my friends has grandchildren." Jack stated, walking to the corner and making sure there were no Jaffa in the next corridor.

"So not the point." Faith smirked. "Perhaps you and Carter should work something out. Unless you have problems with your..."

"You finish that sentence and I swear I'll leave you here."

"Just trying to help." Faith apologized and followed Jack. They both were a little surprised there were no Jaffa in the hallways. Jack remembered he heard the sound of a battle when he left to look for Faith, but now the whole block was in silence and Jack hoped the rest of SG-1 and Buffy were safe and managed to escape from the base. He tried to use his radio to call them, but it seemed another signal was blocking the transmission. He saw the explanation why they didn't hear any fighting sounds when he reached the wide corridor which led to the reservoir. It was filled with bodies of dead soldiers and Jack didn't have to ruminate about what killed them, because there was a death glider hovering in the middle of the passage.

"I'm afraid we disobeyed your order to leave O'Neill." Teal'c welcomed him, opening the hood of his cockpit.

"Good choice Teal'c." Jack expressed his thanks. "Let's get out of here."

----

The journey back to Earth passed without any problems. The Goa'uld didn't detect the three Alkesh waiting for them and Faith was quickly recovering from her injuries. Buffy explained SG-1 that Quortoth and Pylea were demon worlds in different dimensions and promised she'll ask Angel and Connor to give them more informations about demons from these planets. Now she was heading to Giles's office with Dawn, because he said he needed to talk with them in private. As soon as they entered the room Giles made sure no one followed them and then closed and locked the door.

"Why the secret agent approach Giles?" Buffy quipped when she noticed how nervous her watcher was.

"Did Whistler tell you something useful?" Dawn wondered.

"Whistler explained me how I can decipher a prophecy from the Pergameon Codex." Giles informed them. "I'm the only one who knows about it and I expect you to keep it secret as well."

"I'm not going to like the prophecy, am I?" Buffy nodded. "So what's up?"

"Perhaps I should start from the beginning." Giles composed himself and taking a deep breath he started explaining what he discovered. "Everything what exists in the universe has it's opposite. From fundamental particles to Kain and Abel representing the Light and Darkness, these elements must be in balance and can not exist without each other. For thousands of years, the Good and the Evil were fighting against each other on our Earth and neither was able to win. The Powers That Be had overseen this battle and had made sure both sides were evenly matched. They helped the slayers and other warriors, because the Evil was usually a little stronger. However two years ago the situation changed. To be more specific, we changed it."

"Willow's spell." Buffy realized what Giles was about to say.

"Exactly." Giles agreed. "By defeating The First's army, closing the hellmouth and activating so many slayers the Good suddenly had a great advantage. That was never supposed to happen. The situation was so unstable it would have destroyed our planet within an hour. Meanwhile another dimension was experiencing the rise of a great force of evil - Anubis. The PTB decided to kill two birds with one stone and tried to restore the balance by bringing us here. They created a spell to make everyone believe we belong to this dimension and placed a stargate to the warehouse to give us a chance to defend ourselves from the Goa'uld."

"But they messed up the spell, right?" Dawn guessed. "I mean with the set and all."

"The PTB aren't omniscient or omnipotent and they overestimated their own magical energy. The transfer cost them all their powers and they weren't able to finish the spell." Giles read the translation of the prophecy. "That's why our solar system wasn't on the Tok'ra maps and why we can't contact them. Also the gates between dimensions remained partially opened and Anubis presumably wants to take advantage of these conditions. He'll use the set to bring here another planet and recruit the demon population of Quortoth and Pylea. According to the prophecy, he'll have the complete control over all inhabitants of these worlds as soon as he brings them to this universe which means he'll have several millions of demons on his side. The fact he used your blood somehow connects you with the set. There is no reference to the Key in the prophecy, but I think you were able to access the Key's energy every time he added another part to the set and your human form wasn't able to sustain so much power and you had to release it. The slayer half of Buffy probably protects her from experiencing the same conditions."

"So let me summarize this." Buffy interrupted him impatiently. "We messed up by activating the slayers, the PTB tried to make it better by bringing us here and soon Anubis will use the Scythe and the other artifacts to obtain a huge army of demons. Also we have no idea how we can stop him from using the power of the Key."

"I'm afraid this isn't our biggest problem." Giles announced with an expression that could hardly be more depressing.

"Really?" Buffy chuckled. "You can always come up with something even worse.", she added, but her smile faded when she noticed how serious Giles looked. "What is it?"

"The PTB's spell didn't save our world, it only delayed the apocalypse. The only way to save the Earth is restoring the balance and we have only several weeks to do it." Giles explained, picking up the last page of the deciphered translation.

"When only The One slayer is alive and the power that caused the destruction is gone, the balance will be restored.", Giles read the last sentence of the prophecy. "I'm afraid this means we have to kill all new slayers and Faith and Willow."

----

Willow finished downloading the informations Buffy, Faith and SG-1 acquired during their previous mission and activated the engines of her ship. The cloaked transport left the area in front of the warehouse the SWC usually used as a port and with it's maximum speed it spurted towards the clouded sky. When she reached the orbit, Willow brought the ship to a stop and looked back at the blue planet she considered her home, knowing she might never see it again. A glimpse of hesitation crossed her features, but then her face regained an expression of pure determination. She typed the coordinates of one of Anubis's strongholds into the computer and the ship entered hyperspace.

Willow had overheard the conversation between Giles, Buffy and Dawn an hour before. If she was the one responsible, the one who set all these events in motion, then she will be the one to stop them. She took out the some reports about Anubis, ruminating about her next actions and started reading. She blinked several times during studying the materials and a keen observer would notice that between two blinks the green in her eyes was replaced by deep black.

End chapter.

A/N Ok, the explanation is a little more weird then I originally intended, but I think this version is more interesting. Please review.


	25. Kill Will vol 1

Rating:G

Chapter 24 - Kill Will vol. 1

(Tarantino's fans please calm down. This chapter is just another experiment.)

**Part 1 - Days of Our Lives**

Sunnydale High courtyard, 1996

"Students. It's a great honor and privilege for me to welcome you to the second year of your studies on Sunnydale High. Due to some unpleasant circumstances, I couldn't come here last year to wish you good speed when you first came to this school and I'm afraid words can not express how enthused I was after your director called me and I got another chance to talk to you. I hope you won't see me only as Richard Wilkins, the mayor of Sunnydale and descendant of the founder of this institution, but also as a man who really cares about young people, their education and their future. I think I won't exaggerate when I say your class is the most important of all that ever entered this school. Believe me. During your graduation, you will see history in the making. This is the beginning of a long journey and at its end, none of you standing here and listening to me, will be the same. May the events and decisions shaping your personality make you stronger and prepared for the changes in your life. Good luck to you all."

"That's pathetic." Jesse remarked, watching mayor's performance and hoping he was finished and won't add another lecture about teenage behavior.

"Clap to the crap." Xander smirked, his mind miles away from the school or anything else that had something to do with education. "It's still better then a math class."

"I think it was quite motivating. Don't you think it was motivating?" Willow addressed her friends, munching her favorite pencil and ready to write down the whole speech, but in the end she decided against it. "Especially the part about growing up and changing your personality. I mean who knows what's going to happen in several years ? I mean one day I might wake up and look into the mirror and realize the Willow I used to know is gone and I certainly don't want myself to surprise me this way. And what if something really bad happens and I won't be able to handle it? Like in the end of the last year when we wrote a test and there was a very difficult question and I didn't know the correct answer! I had to guess! I mean guessing is so inaccurate! You can't just keep walking around, guessing results and hope nobody will find out! Guessing is bad."

"Hey Will." Jesse was looking around, trying to locate the object of his interest. "Do you know if Cordelia is here as well?"

"I guess." Willow shrugged.

"Well, I have to apply my new charm on the ice queen." Jesse roused himself to action. "Make her see the real me."

"The real you is babbling and drooling every time the Miss of Bitchverse gets close to you man." Xander tried to talk Jesse out of another useless attempt to ask Cordelia out. "I really don't understand your obsession. I would never hook up with someone who has her attitude."

"Here she comes." Jesse noticed Cordelia walking close to their group. "Hey, Cordelia. Care to join me for some..."

"Excuse me?" Cordelia interrupted Jesse, giving him a cold stare that reduced his self-confidence to zero point. "Who gave you the permission to open your slobbery mouth in my presence?"

"That would be Thomas Jefferson." Willow mumbled quietly, hoping QueenC won't notice.

"Oh please. If he had know people like you will be born," Cordelia observed the group of people she considered a bunch of freaks, "he definitely would have added a few exceptions to the constitution."

"Cordelia. Why don't you get in daddy's car he gave you to make it a bad debt and drive to the nearest hospital?" Xander suggested, hoping she will get the message and leave them alone. "I'm afraid you're in need of an immediate surgery, because your ego is outgrowing the other already improved parts of your body."

"I'm sure you could use some medical help yourself Harris." Cordelia wasn't disturbed by his insult."Too bad the insurance company won't pay you a psychology analysis. On the other hand, we all know what the results would be, don't we?" With a triumphant expression Cordelia stormed away to Harmony and her other friends.

"Is dropping someone accidentally into a cistern full of acid qualified as a murder?" Xander wondered with a dreamy look spreading on his face. "I mean, in her case it would be a favour to the whole society."

"So."Jesse fetched a sight of relief Cordelia was gone and his humiliation didn't last as long as usual. "Fortunately we don't have any more lectures today. I say we check out the new band I heard about. Willow, you're coming?"

"I..uh." Willow muttered, slightly shaking her head. Going out with Xander? Sure. Any time. Listening to heavy metal? Not really her idea of a nice evening. Xander and Jesse will undoubtedly spend the whole time staring at barely dressed girls in leather anyway. Also Amy needed her attention more then the others. "I promised Amy she can visit me this afternoon. Her mother started another diet invasion. We plan to make brownies and load us up with various chocolate goodness."

"Ok. See you tomorrow when another day of teenage terror and indescribable torment begins." Xander smirked, pleased with his description of Sunnydale High.

"You know, most people just call it education." Willow remarked.

"Most people don't have to sit next to Cordelia." Xander shrugged and followed Jesse to the exit. "Have fun with Amy."

----

Willow put another couple of brownies on her plate and returned back to the living room where Amy was waiting for her. Willow's parents were on a business trip to L.A. so Amy and Willow could use the whole house. They had spend most of the afternoon talking about pretty much everything, though Willow carefully avoided the theme 'our parents', because she doubted Amy was ready to criticize her mother in Willow's presence. Willow was glad she didn't have to go through the same problems, however sometimes she felt a little envious her parents didn't pay attention to her at all. Willow doubted her mother would notice she gained thirty pounds until she couldn't fit in the door.

"Here you go." Willow handed the plate with brownies to Amy and sat down on a sofa next to her. "What's on TV?"

"A live report from a heavy metal get-together." Amy shrugged, pretending the news were boring and continued with a perfectly neutral expression. "They just showed how the police arrested Xander and Jesse, because they had danced naked in front the local McDonald, singing a remix of 'We are the champions'."

"What?" Willow forgot all her previous thoughts and ran to the screen, but couldn't recognize the two men who were manhandled into the police car. "Very funny."

"Gotcha." Amy smirked, seeing Willow's reaction."Still into Xander huh?"

"Me and Xander?" Willow fruitlessly tried to avoid blushing. "You're so out of line. We broke up after the Barbie thing. I mean it's not like we've ever dated. He is a friend! A dark haired, brown-eyed, handsome, male friend I like. I mean friend like not boyfriend like, which is good! There is nothing bad about liking your friend you know. No boy-friendliness here. It's boyfriend-free zone. Anything else in the news?", Willow quickly changed the subject.

"The police found another dead girl in Weatherly Park." Amy got serious. "That's the third this month. She had small bite marks on her neck and arms and according to the newscaster there was no blood in her body.",Amy shuddered, remembering the pictures. "What kind of psycho could do this?"

"I have no idea, but I've read about a similar case in L.A. a few months ago. Plenty of students died during a ball in Hemery High and they all had the same symptoms. Of course I don't believe everything I read in tabloids, but this case is just too familiar. I mean what if the guy responsible for the murders in L.A moved to Sunnydale? He could be passing by our house right now!" Willow's eyes got a little wider while she franticly searched the room for anything unusual. "Perhaps we should check the locks again and barricade the doors ... and plank the windows ... and earth up the cellar ... and choke up the chimney. I have enough food for both of us for six days. The water is ..." Willow's expression changed from worried to terrified. "What if he poisoned the water?"

"Willow!" Amy bit her lip to restrain herself from laughing."Please calm down. There is no serial killer obsessed with your water supply out there."

"That's what you think." Willow disagreed, marching nervously around her armchair, watching suspiciously every shadow that dared to move. "And then somebody knocks on the door and introduces himself as an agent from an insurance company and of course you let him in, because he'll look like a guy from an insurance company and then the next day my parents return and we'll both be dead and I certainly don't want to explain my mom why there are two corpses watching television in her living room. Ok, that probably won't happen, but it's not save out there. What do you think?"

"I think I'll check the ingredients in those brownies." Amy chuckled, giving Willow an amused look. "We're not in Amsterdam."

"Ok, I admit I overreacted." Willow calmed down a little and even managed to stay on one place for more then two seconds. "Still, don't you sometimes feel there is more to this city then it seems? I heard people talking. They said this place is evil."

"Well, my dad used to say mom is evil, but I guess that's just a typical marriage thing." Amy shrugged. "At least we both know we're the good guys, right?"

----

In a swirl of the typical violet lighting effects Willow's Pel'tak jumped out of hyperspace and cloaked to hide from the Goa'uld sensors. Willow was aware sooner or later her ship will be detected. To be more specific, she was counting on it. She erased all ship's logs and with a small movement of her hand she set the reports she had read before on fire, leaving nothing but a few grains of ash. Now only one more thing had to disappear - herself. The air surrounding her began to crackle, small lighting bolts flashing near her skin and Willow's body was gone, however her mind still controlled all ship's functions. The transport decloaked and floated seemingly freely towards Anubis's space station.

**Part two - First wave**

Sunnydale, 1998, Amy's POV

I wonder what dad or even my with cheerleading obsessed mother would say if they knew where I'm heading right now. Dad would probably freak out and give me a long lecture about being young and confused, but I can't deny it anymore. I'm a witch and I want to control my powers. I burned my left arm during a fire spell one week ago, which made me realize I'm not immune to my own experiments and according to the vampire I met in Bronze, there is only one guy in this town who can help me. Rack. So I decided to visit him. What do I have to lose?

I walk down one of the many dark and muddy streets to the corner where Rack's place is located tonight. When I reach it, I can't see any signs of a door or other entrance. Frustrated I look around and I'm ready to leave when a cold arm touches my shoulder. I spin round quickly, thinking of an offensive spell to get rid of anyone who dared to attack me, but the guy just stands there with his hand opened and smirks when he notices how scared I am.

"I'll show you the way inside for twenty bucks.", he offers. "The first time it's always hard to find."

"I've already been here several times." I try to sound self-confident, but the sentence comes out more like a pleading and I give him the money.

"Sure." the man chuckles shortly and then takes my hand. "And I'm a vampire with a soul."

He pulls me towards the empty space of the alley and the air feels suddenly much hotter then usual. The man continues walking forward, the air rippling around him and his form begins to disappear. I follow him through the invisible barrier, my body shivering with cold and sweating at the same time. The room we enter is quite small, equipped with a sofa and some old and dusty chairs. Wow. I heard the place is cloaked, but I certainly didn't expect it to be hidden so well.

The door to the next room opens and a tall man with brown shoulder-length hair comes into the room, looking at me and the scar on his face twitches.

"I was here first." The guy who showed me the way inside goes forward, but Rack ignores him, staring at me. "Ladies first." Rack takes my hand in his own and we leave together to his room.

I see a single sofa and a wooden table in the middle and wonder what will come next. Rack doesn't say a word and just keeps watching me, which is beyond creepy. For the first time I hesitate if coming here was such a good idea. The magic in this place is different then my own, though it seems strangely familiar. The last time I felt the same way was before Buffy used my mother's curse against her.

"Oh. Yes." Rack breaks the silence, realizing what I'm thinking about. "She was here a few times. I always warned her about using spells she can't handle. Make sure the same won't happen to you. I suppose you came here to ask me where she is, little Amy?"

"No." I shake my head without hesitation. "Wherever she is, she deserves to be there. I want to learn how to control my spells."

"You know the prize?"

"Yes." I nod. I've been told he'll require part of my own powers.

"You're sure?" Rack chuckles. His question had much deeper meaning - many people who came to him simply couldn't handle what he was able to offer and the consequences were ... well, he has never cared about the consequences. It wasn't his fault the customers couldn't deal with the effects, was it? "So, let's see how much you can take, little Amy."

He puts his hand under my collarbone and slight sparks of magic start to flicker between my skin and his finger tips. I close my eyes and let out a soft moan, giving into the sensation, which quickly takes over my whole body. I imagined the feeling will be cool, but this surpasses any of my expectations. It's like all molecules in my body connected and created a unity more powerful then anything I experienced before. The nervousness and insecurity melts away with Rack's touch and is replaced by a new-found self-confidence. I don't understand why was I scared of coming here. 'High risk; you don't know what the guy could do to you; high prize to pay' and all that bullshit is forgotten. Fortunately. The preaching part of my mind obviously has no idea what it is talking about.

I'm not sure how long I've been there. Seconds. Minutes. Hours? Does it matter? Rack's words seem so distant and I suddenly find myself in the ally where the entrance to his house was. I remember Rack mentioning something about a gift to his Little Amy. 'Little Amy', I giggle, walking down the street, observing the people around me. Like I'm some kind of child. Is he really so stupid? I'm a witch! I have more power then my mother could ever dream about. I'm the most powerful witch in this town and Rack will make me even stronger. I can feel the spell he cast burning below my skin, asking to be released. I see a boy in my age strolling along the ally and decide to give it a try. Why the hell not?

"Hi." I approach the guy, tossing the various possibilities in mind. Better start with something simple. "Do you know what time is it?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have a watch." , he replies, prepared to leave.

"Do you want to buy this one?", I pick up a piece of aluminium I see lying on the ground and look deep into his eyes, using the spell for the first time. "I bought it during my trip to Switzerland."

"Wow. It's beautiful.", the guy admires the metal sheet I showed him. "But I have only 90 dollars.", he quickly starts searching his pockets, looking desperate he can't offer more.

"That's fine, I'll take what you have.", I grab the money and rush away, leaving him to inspect his new 'watch'. I wonder when will the spell wear off and he'll realize he spent 90 bucks for a piece of trash. I head home, speculating about other usage of Rack's gift. Entering the house, I almost bump into my dad, who is standing by the stairway with his arm crossed. It seems he has been waiting for me for quite some time by now and certainly isn't happy I was gone the whole day.

"It's late.", he eyes me suspiciously. "Where have you been? I was scared."

"I was in the library." I try to look innocent, keeping the eye contact and pick up an empty sheet of paper. "This is the book a borrowed."

"Oh, you were in the library.", my dad nods, smiling at me. "I see you borrowed a new book. What is it about?"

"Power." ,I grin, putting the paper into my bag."It's all about power."

----

Willow materialized near the main reactor of Anubis's base and carefully opened the case containing the control crystals for power supply and security systems. Sneaking into the stronghold was easy, because the sensors couldn't detect her as long as she kept her incorporeal form and she was lucky there were currently no Jaffa guarding the core. Not that their presence would change anything. "Flux", she whispered and both stones melted, destroying the socket they were attached to in the process, so that nobody will be able to replace them. Then she went to a terminal with data about the station and sank her fingers into the keyboard. Soon she found out the set wasn't there, however she stumbled over another interesting information. Amy. Willow smirked, extracting her fingers from the board, her eyes now completely black.

**Part three - Crossing Jordan**

Lindsey stepped aside to free the way for a large wooden crate his subordinates dragged towards an abandoned Goa'uld temple he chose for the resurrection ritual. It has been more then five years since he witnessed a similar spell, losing his arm to Angel in the process, but the memories were still fresh like it happened the previous day. The movers placed the crate to the middle of the hall between two golden columns where a sarcophagus used to lie centuries before and stepped back to give Lindsey and the monks enough space to perform the ritual. Lindsey took the completed set and put it on the top of the crate.

"Five breaths will be taken to make one breathe.", three monks in brown capes began to chant, walking around five gagged men who were chained to the crate.

From Lindsey's point of view, the experiment with Darla was a fault that almost cost him his life. He couldn't deny he had some feelings for her and she was the main reason he left his lawyer career and abandoned Wolfram&Hart. In the beginning he had actually believed he was free and they had forgotten about him. Foolish. The only way to leave the firm was to die and even that often didn't help. The spell the monks were ready to cast was a proof that there was no place to hide. Of course without the power of all the artifacts it wouldn't work, but Lindsey was sure there were other ways to make him pay for his lack of loyalty.

"Five souls will vanish to make one appear."

However the power of the set had to be tested before they try to open a large portal between dimensions and a violation of the natural order was the best way to make sure they were ready. This will be much different then bringing back Darla from the dead. Darla hated and despised Angel for killing her and admired Angelus at the same time. The woman he was about to resurrect had no reason to hate slayers and Angel's band of good-doers, yet Lindsey was sure he will be able to persuade her if he uses the correct approach. One way or another, she will obey Wolfram&Hart or her return to the land of the living will be a very short one.

"Five will bleed to make one heal. Five will burn to crush the seal. Five will perish to make one real.", the monks stopped and raised their hands. "No matter if she is in heaven or hell, five will die to finish the spell."

The monks and everyone else felt the earth shake and the five human sacrifices writhed in agony, unable to scream as their clothes caught fire. For a few seconds the flames illuminated the temple and then all fire was sucked inside. A ring of blue light spread from within the crate, throwing everyone to the ground. Lindsey was the first to stand up and carefully walked to the grilled opening, looking at the shivering figure inside.

"You don't have to be afraid." Lindsey tried to get her attention, but the woman ignored him and just kept staring at the side of the crate in front of her, her whole body shaking.

Lindsey wasn't surprised by her lack of interest in communication with him. She probably didn't have many opportunities to improve her talking skills where she came from. Also being raised from the dead tends to make people a little cranky, especially before lunch. There will be enough time to prepare her and use her weak state to shape her personality later.

"Take her to my ship." Lindsey ordered, thinking about his next move. He has just gained a powerful weapon against the SWC. The question was how to use it.

----

Willow was about to leave the reactor control room when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to face her attacker, muttering a silencing charm.

"K.." the Jaffa wanted to speak, but when his mouth opened no words came out. Without thinking about the reason, he pulled the trigger on his staff to fire at Willow. The blast left his weapon, but it hit only a bluish energy shield in front of her. Before the soldier had a chance to fire again, Willow waved her arm and the weapon flew away from his hands. The Jaffa tried to speak once more, with the same result as previously. His lips moved, but no sound could be heard.

"It's hard to call for reinforcements without your voice, isn't it?" Willow smirked mischievously, creating another spell to prevent him from moving and attacking her with his knife. "Too bad you guys don't use cell phones. If I were you I'd send an SMS - something like: I'm in a deep shit."

Willow walked to the Jaffa and took away his knife and zat."Now be a good boy, call the others and tell them they should send all soldiers to the north sector, because there are intruders. You try to warn them and you'll be dead before you finish the first word." Willow canceled the charm and gave him his transmitter.

"Jaffa Kre! A witch in the rea..."

Willow snapped her fingers and the Jaffa's spine cracked, his body falling to the ground. She eyed him for a while with a neutral expression and then shrugged. "I thought I made it clear." She took his zat and shoot him three times to cover her tracks and then left to the south sector to find Amy.

**Part four - Girlfriends**

Kennedy entered the room she shared with Willow, wondering where her girlfriend was. Willow missed the dinner as well as the last meeting with SG-1, which was more then just a little strange, because Willow had never missed an opportunity to discuss Goa'uld technology with Carter before. She noticed a DVD disc lying on the desk, labeled 'Kennedy'. She smiled and put it impatiently into the player. It had been exactly two years since her first date with Willow and Kennedy had prepared a romantic evening for them, but it seemed Willow was one step ahead of her. She pressed 'Play' and sat down to watch the message.

"Kennedy." Willow's form appeared on the screen, the hardness of the decision she had just made still imprinted on her face. "When you'll see this message I'll be already gone. The reason why I had to leave is complicated and I hope you'll understand I didn't have any other choice. In my life, I made many mistakes and most of them can not be undone. An hour ago I found out there is another problem I am responsible for, however this time I have the power to change it. The spell awakening all new slayers destroyed the balance and the only way to save our planet is to ensure only one slayer will stay alive. You can ask Giles, Buffy or Dawn for details, but for me the most important part is the fact that restoring the balance means losing you and I can't let that happen. If I regain the Scythe I'll cancel the calling of all slayers except Buffy. I know it was your dream to become a slayer and I really wish you were The One to continue the line. You are one of the strongest women I've ever met and perhaps one day you'll be called again and lead the other potentials in our fight. I wish I could be there when it happens."

"The second part of the prophecy says I have to die to save the others. Right now, you're probably thinking about various possibilities how to stop me so I have to ask you for a last favour. Please don't. Many years ago, when I did my first spell I knew there will be consequences. I won't try to pretend I'm not scared, I won't try to pretend I'm ready to die, because I'm not. There are many things I hoped for, many things I wanted to experience ... with you. Two years ago I didn't believe I'll be able to love someone again and then you appeared and everything changed. I think you don't realize how much you've changed me."

"You told me once, you'd like to see the 'scary Willow' and at that moment I promised to myself you never will. We can both act like the darker part of me is gone, but we both know it's still hidden inside me, waiting to be released. I can't win this fight without losing control, that's why I can't take you with me. I'm afraid that no matter if I succeed or not, the Willow you used to know will never return. Buffy once told me destiny is something you can't chose, so you should do the best with what you have. I know I made some wrong decisions in the last two years, but there is one thing I'm sure of. You. Thank you for being the light that helped me defeat the darkness inside me, the one who encouraged me every time I thought I've lost. I love you Kennedy. That's the one thing that will never change."

The screen went black as the message ended, leaving Kennedy speechless. She raised her hand, touching a photograph of her and Willow that was lying on the table in front of her, running her fingertips along the features of her girlfriend. Girlfriend? Willow was much more then that.

"I love you too.", Kennedy hold back tears. "That's why I can't let you die." Taking Willow's DVD out of the player she rushed to Giles's office. He had a lot to explain and Kennedy knew she didn't have much time to catch up with Willow.

**Part five - Judging Amy**

Amy was walking through one of the medium-sized halls of the station when she heard a slight cracking behind her. Without showing any signs of surprise she turned around to find Willow standing right in front of her. She expected to see hatred or despite, but Willow's face lacked any emotions. There was only a glimpse of ... boredom?

"So you finally decided to show up." Amy greeted her former friend.

"Where is the Scythe Amy?"

"You don't waste time, do you?" Amy remarked, eyeing carefully Willow's every movement. She knew Willow won't kill her before she reveals the location of the headquarters, where Anubis kept the set, but there are many spells that hurt the victim without killing it.

"Tell me what I want to know and I'll let you go." Willow stated, her face still blank. "You know you alone can't defeat me."

"Lucky me. I don't have to." Amy replied, watching a place behind Willow where six figures dressed in black cloaks appeared and proceeded slowly towards Willow, circling her, chanting in Latin. "Surprised?", Amy smirked when Willow noticed the other witches.

"Not really." Willow shrugged. If she was scared then she knew well how to cover it. "I knew you couldn't steal the Scythe alone. I just didn't expect it was Wolfram&Hart who helped you."

"Arrogant and underestimating my powers as usual. Even in the moment when you see you will lose, you won't admit I have the upper hand. Why? Because your mind simply isn't able to acknowledge the fact you could be defeated by someone like me." Amy stepped back and joined the circle of the other witches, chanting the same incantation. "Good bye Willow.", she added.

"Good bye Willow.", Willow whispered, waiting calmly for the attack. Each of the seven witches took the hand of her neighbor, connecting their powers. A circle of red light formed in front of them in the height oh their eyes with Willow in it's center. Willow didn't flinch, observing the light approaching her without any attempt to defend herself. The radius of the circle slowly decreased and when it reached Willow the witches finished their chanting and the light shot into Willow's body.

Willow felt the energy penetrate her and spread through her torso. Knowing what will follow, she didn't fight it. The red in her hair disappeared and was replaced by black, dark veins covered her arms, legs and finally her face as well. Willow looked at Amy, bolts of energy cracking between her fingers and her expression changed from neutral to amused. The only thing Amy could do was watch her six companions fall to the ground dead.

"Whoops." Willow smiled, faking surprise. "I guess this wasn't part of the plan, was it?"

"What did you do?", Amy wanted to teleport out of the hall, but realized her own magic was gone.

"An simple protection charm. Well, it's simple for someone with my abilities. It turns around the effect of an offensive spell." Willow explained. "So instead of losing my strength I gained new power from you and the cloaked bitches from Wolfram&Hart. I have to tell you, it's been a long time I felt so good."

"So this is the Evil Willow I heard so much about? I admit you are the complete opposite of the Willow I used to know."

"Opposite?" Willow laughed. "Oh please. Don't be so naive. Good and Evil aren't opposites, they are identical. They're subjective. What's good for me is evil for you and vice-versa. The ideals and principles you hold dear might seem crazy and evil to someone raised in a different country and culture. Anyone who believes he's a good guy only because of his morality is so out of line as the bookworms who wrote all the religious crap, thinking their opinions are the best for everyone just because they stuffed up their minds with more volumes. You're weak and I'm strong, which means I define what's good and what's evil and right now I decide you have one minute to tell me where the Scythe is."

Amy tried to escape from the hall and alarm the guards, however after she made the first few steps, she fell to the floor, screaming in pain, her legs unable to support her. She wasn't sure what happened, but she felt she didn't have the strength to stand up again.

"Your teleportation spell is really a funny thing to cast." Willow remarked, observing Amy's condition. "In case you wonder what are the two rods hovering close to the window - that would be your shin-bones. My offer still holds. Give me the information and I'll heal you and let you go."

"You won't escape." Amy managed to rasp out. "The Jaffa and demons guarding this base will soon be here."

"You're sure?" Willow replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm afraid this hall is the only place in the station with functional life-support system. I realized this place smells so I decided to give the rooms an airing. Also the heat generators are off line and I heard it's quite easy to catch a cold in February, especially when you are in a space station two billion miles away from the nearest sun. So?", Willow crouched next to Amy. "What's your decision?"

"Tartarus. The coordinates are in my PDA." Amy sighed, giving up the fight, looking Willow straight into the eyes. "Do you really want to destroy it? Don't you see killing the slayers is the only way to save the Earth?"

"The only thing I see is a weakling, begging me to spare her pathetic life she doesn't deserve and I can't understand how Willow could be a friend of someone so pitiful and unworthy like you. You messed up my life for the last time Amy. Enjoy your stay. It will take hours before the air in this hall will get cold enough to kill you so I wonder if you freeze to death or die because of the inner bleeding." Willow stood up, taking Amy's PDA.

"Wait!" Amy shouted, realizing Willow was about to let her die. "You said you'll heal me and let me go!"

"Well." Willow shrugged, without showing any sign of compassion. "I guess that makes me a liar."

Willow teleported to her ship, leaving Amy swearing and yelling into the empty space of the hall. She started the engines of her Pel'tak and left the base and it's personnel to their fate.

After Willow had teleported away Amy realized she was probably the last survivor on the station. She crawled slowly towards the nearest communication terminal, hoping Willow didn't switch off the connection between this base and Tartarus. She knew they were too far away to save her, but she would be damned if she let Willow get away with her death so easily. When Willow comes to Tartarus, they will be ready for her. Also doing a favor to Anubis and Wolfram&Hart meant they might use a sarcophagus or a spell to resurrect her later. She activated the computer and checked the status. Most halls were filled with vacuum, the emergency locks were opened. The temperature in the rooms with air was bellow 200 Kelvin (-100 Fahrenheit) and still decreasing. Amy switched on the communication and Lindsey's face appeared on the screen.

"Amy what happened?" Lindsey eyed Amy's condition, wondering what could hurt her in one of the best protected places in the galaxy.

"Willow." Amy mumbled, trying to fight the pain in her legs and stay conscious. "I couldn't stop her."

"And the others?"

"Dead. She used a spell to gain our powers and then killed them. She disabled the shield, opened the emergency locks and most of the air was sucked outside. Then she switched off the power generators and the rest of the crew froze to death. Also I think she accessed our computers before she attacked me."

"I'll inform Anubis and the senior partners. You can be sure your sacrifice won't be of no avail. Wolfram&Hart will do anything to bring you back." Lindsey assured her. "Do you know where she is heading?"

"Tartarus." Amy nodded, closing her eyes. She was too tired to keep them open. The two of them kept talking for another five minutes, Lindsey promising he will do anything in his power to save her, until Amy was so exhausted she couldn't form words anymore. She ended the transmission, switching off the computer and leaned against the wall to rest. It is said people see their whole life in the last seconds before they die, but Amy remembered only the moments that changed her the most. The images of her mother swapping their bodies and Buffy saving her, creating her first spell, meeting Rack, her three years long rat career, her choice to join Wolfram&Hart. She felt the temperature in the hall decrease rapidly. Opening her eyes for a while, she could already see the vapor condensing when she breathed out. She didn't want to sleep. Not yet. But the will to stay awake was sinking faster then the temperature. Before she closed her eyes for the last time, she couldn't help thinking about the last matter she discussed with Lindsey during their previous conversation. It was one simple question.

"One more thing." Lindsey asked thoughtfully. "Is she aware Tara is alive?"

End of Volume One.

A/N In case you wonder what exactly was so experimental on the chapter, here is The cliché list of Volume 1: 

-Mayor's speech-pretty much a copy of the speech in Graduation day, I'm sure you noticed. 

-Willow saying she can't imagine she would become evil 

-The beginning of Amy beeing addict - a dark street, a guy who shows her the way, the power she felt afterwards, Amy lying to her dad-it couldn't have been more straightforward. And of course the stolen line in the end. 

-The ritual bringing Tara back-I don't know why the incantation always have to rhyme, but because they do, so does this one. 

-Part four-the soap opera Willow-No comment needed. 

-Willow's lecture about good and evil - The evil masterminds simply can't keep their mouth shut and have to spend the most critical moments talking. 

-Amy crawling to the nearest computer to tell Lindsey about Willow - Another bad guy habit. They never just die, they have to annoy the heroes to the very end. 

-Amy remembering her life before she died - I wanted to add a tunnel with a train, but that would be really too far over the edge :-) 

-The stolen last line of the whole chapter. 

-All chapters are named after TV shows. I case you wonder how much they have in common with the shows, the answer is I have no idea, because I haven't seen a single episode from any of these shows. They didn't air in the country where I come from. 

Please review. Which parts you liked/disliked? I hope you managed to read through the chapter without being mad at me. This is simply something I wanted to try.


	26. Kill Will vol 2

Thanks for reviews and for reading so far. I realized I should thank everyone for tolerating the strange ideas I sometimes have. (Yes, I mean chapters like these two and no, there won't be so many cliché in this one like in Volume 1 ... just one or two :-) Experimenting is simply too much fun to give it up. And sorry this update took so long, I didn't have many opportunities to write the last two months.

Rating:G

Chapter 25 - Kill Will vol. 2

**Part 6 - Six feet above**

"It's too big." Willow didn't even try to hide her fear from the 'thing' in front of her. "There is no way I'm going to sit on it."

"Come on. You promised to give it a try." Tara smiled softly, stroking Willow's hair, trying to encourage her. "It's hard the first time, but as soon as you start moving, you're going to enjoy it. The feeling is great."

"Tara. When I said I would like to experience something new, I certainly didn't mean this." Willow started to back away. "I mean look at his eyes. I'm sure he's just waiting for an opportunity to bite me. And how can you trust an animal that can see over 250 degrees of his surroundings anyway?"

"The horse is actually a she. I call her Eve." Tara patted Eve's neck and the horse neighed softly, turning it's head to Willow, who once again retreated to a safe distance. The three of them were standing on a sandy road next to the gate to Mr. Winkler's farm, surrounded by the white ashes growing along the road. The country around Sunnydale was too dry for these trees, but a small creek close to Winkler's house supported them with enough water. The two-storied residence dominating the whole area was build from red bricks in contrast to the other three wooden buildings, which had light brown painting, making them blend with the surroundings. Mr. Winkler was one of the few farmers close to Sunnydale and Tara occasionally worked there during the semester. The pay wasn't great, but she enjoyed spending time with horses and as a reward she was allowed to ride after the work. It's been one week after Buffy killed Adam and the Initiative was destroyed and Tara decided it was time for her girlfriend to face her worst fear - a horse. After ten minutes of finding the suitable outfit, which consisted of jeans, shirt, old leather boots and a hat, and another two hours of persuasion they reached the farm in the late afternoon.

"She can recognize you're afraid of her." Tara explained. "Most important is to hide your fear. Then you can keep the control even though you're scared. Don't worry, Eve's the friendliest horse on this farm and she's never bitten anyone."

Willow reached out her hand and jerked back when the strong muscles hidden under Eve's brown skin stretched. Tara took Willow's hand in her own and guided her to stroke the mane, holding the rein with her other hand to make Willow feel more safe.

"Good horse." Willow smiled nervously. "Not going to bite me or throw me down, are you?"

"Now put your left leg into the stirrup, grip the saddle and swing your right leg over." Tara advised, keeping Eve still. Summoning the confidence she had left, Willow followed Tara's guidance and with a little shriek when the horse moved she climbed up the Eve's back. "And don't forget to hold the rein." Tara added, passing the leather to Willow, keeping only a short rope attached the strap around Eve's head.

"I just realized I'm also afraid of heights." Willow stated as soon as she reached the top and immediately decided to make her stay as short as possible. "Also the saddle is too large for me. Well, it was nice, but I think I should get down again. You know, it's six o'clock and Giles wanted to research a new demon and I promised Buffy to help her with preparation for the philosophy exam and..."

"Willow." Tara stopped her, arching her eyebrow in amusement. "Buffy passed her last exam two weeks ago."

"See?" Willow made expressive gesture of an expert in animal psychology. "The horse is disturbing my higher associative functions.I told you it's evil."

"You're doing great." Tara didn't let Willow give up. "And I chose a saddle big enough for both of us, because I plan to join. You don't expect me to walk the whole time, do you?"

Still a little uncertain, Willow agreed to stay and give it a try. At first they spend several minutes just walking along the fence and when Tara thought Eve got used to Willow enough, she untied the rope and swung up behind Willow, who immediately snuggled against her. Taking the rein, Tara brought Eve to a steady trot, heading towards the nearby creek. It was slowly getting dark and Tara turned the horse towards the west to let the last beams of the reddening sun lighten their faces and enjoyed the warmth spreading on her skin. Almost like in a film, Tara thought, watching the shadows draw over the countryside as the sun reached the horizon, a slight breeze playing with the locks of her hair.

"Are you still afraid to fall?" Tara whispered into Willow's ear, hugging her girlfriend while Willow rested her head on Tara's shoulder.

"I'll never fall as long as you're with me..."

The sound of Willow's words echoed in Tara's mind when she opened her eyes and the image of them riding was slowly disappearing as she once again saw just the simple shape of her room. The walls were white. Too white for her taste. A single shade of grey would create at least a slight feeling of comfort and safety, but the snowy color radiated barrenness and hostility. LA hospital. That's what they told her and even though the halls looked almost real, Tara was sure her current place of residence was fake. Different space, different time. Tara would easily recognize the aura of a hospital. Before her mother passed away and during her staying in Sunnydale, she had spend there more time then she could ever wish for. She knew death, pain and loneliness were part of it, but this was only one side of the medley of emotions she had always felt when she breathed in the thick air, smelling the odor of the ever-present disinfection. There was nervousness before every difficult operation, delight every time the doctors were successful, love and hope the relatives passed on the patients, the joy of a mother holding her newborn child for the first time. The air filling her lungs at the moment was lacking all of them. Tara was able to sense the aura of the brightly lit room where she had spend the most of the last two days and she knew one thing for certain. The place was dead. This knowledge however made Tara even more confused, because somehow she felt a level of familiarity with the place. Almost like she belonged there.

Tara abandoned the speculations about her location for a second and reached for a glass of cocoa standing on the bedside table next to her. Closing her eyes and holding the small glass with both hands, she let the warm liquid run down her throat, it's warmth helping her forget the coldness of her surroundings for a few precious seconds. Every time she did this during the last two days she hoped to open her eyes and see Willow standing in front of her, laughing, telling her everything is fine and that she shouldn't worry. What Lindsey told her was simply too hard to understand, but Tara had to accept it was true. Of course she didn't believe him the first time he talked to her, that's why she conjured a charm to see if he was telling the truth. It cost her almost all magic she had left, but she didn't care. She had to be sure. The whole time he was explaining the situation, she hoped to reveal he was lying, but Lindsey told her the truth. Willow was evil. Willow tried to destroy the world. Willow killed Warren and Amy.

Tara noticed he was hiding something from her though. This definitely wasn't a hospital in LA, they didn't take her to this place because Sunnydale was destroyed and didn't keep her here because of her own safety. Lindsey told her she had been seriously wounded by Warren, but she couldn't recognize any sign of an injury on her body, even though she remembered Warren shot her. That was actually the last thing she was able to recall - she was falling to the ground, watching Willow's stunned face and then she woke up here. Another weird thing was nobody came to visit her except Lindsey and the doctors. Even Dawn didn't come which meant they probably didn't know where she was. Willow could do a locator spell to find her, but Tara assumed the evil version either didn't try or didn't care at all. Evil Willow. Tara still didn't have the strength to let these two words pass her lips. What could cause her girlfriend changed so much? Was it because of Warren?

Tara shook her head to get rid of the depressive thoughts and to be able to concentrate on her own situation. She needed a plan to get out of this 'hospital' and then she will find and help Willow. She already checked the locks on all doors and trying to break through she almost dislocated her shoulder. Picking locks wasn't one of her skills and even if she got outside, she had no idea what to expect. There was another way to contact Willow though. The problem was each time the two of them used telepathy to communicate, Willow was the one who held the connection and she was always only several hundred meters away.

Focusing her mind and forgetting the space around her, Tara searched for a sign of Willow and she was surprised how soon she caught a trace of someone very familiar. It wasn't Willow, but someone equally powerful. Dawn.

**Part 7 - Family Matters**

Dawn gulped down yet another goof ball, hoping to get at least a few hours of an undisturbed sleep, even though she knew the chance the strange feelings she got during the last two days will go away was on the scale from one to ten far bellow zero. It all started the night after Willow disappeared. She could sense the set was used again, but this time it wasn't painful as previously. On the contrary. She felt comfortable, gratified, almost happy like whatever Anubis used it for wasn't evil. The problem was Dawn couldn't stop thinking she was supposed to do something important, but she had no idea what it was. This caused she had spend the last two nights researching the prophecy Whistler had told them about, unable to rest till she would find an answer.

Accepting the pill didn't have the desired effect, Dawn decided to take a run and get tired enough to lose the strength to stay awake. She chose the path to the warehouse, still tossing the prophecy and the message Willow left them in her mind. Except Buffy, Kennedy was the only slayer who knew about it and it took a lot of effort to persuade her to keep the prophecy a secret. Impatient as she was, Kennedy wanted to send a ship to every Anubis's base they knew about. After they contacted SG-1, Hammond suggested to let the Tok'ra spy out where Willow was while Giles preferred finding Willow with a locator spell. After several hours of arguing Faith joined the discussion by simply walking into the room and asking why they don't contact 'the grey guy'. Faith didn't in fact like the idea to ask Asguard for help each time they messed up, but Thor knew Willow and Faith still had the crystal he gave her to communicate with his ship.

Dawn jogged to the warehouse's entrance and turned around to take the same path back to the manor, mulling over the situation. She thought the Asguard were the best choice, because their ships were fast enough to find and bring back Willow before she could reach Anubis. Except they refused. Thor's fleet was guarding their homeworld, expecting the replicators to attack the planet and they couldn't spare a single ship. After Buffy told them about the set and how dangerous it is for people in this galaxy, Thor stated one of their smaller crafts was being repaired and promised to send it to look for Willow as soon as the repairs were finished. Dawn hoped it will be soon and Willow won't uselessly sacrifice herself. In the beginning Dawn though Willow's way to fulfill the prophecy was a good solution - except the dead Willow part. However when they talked to Whistler later, he gave out it was too late to cancel the calling of new slayers. By connecting the Scythe to the other artifacts it's power corrupted. It didn't control the slayers anymore and Willow's attempt would be pointless.

In the end SWC and SG-1 agreed to follow Willow to the most presumable destination, based on Carter's calculations and the last motion vector of Willow's Pel'tac before it jumped into the hyperspace. It was a Goa'uld space station and they brought six ships from Antara to attack it. The preparation took almost two days and this will be the first large united operation of the two organizations.

Dawn was already half way back when something familiar invaded her mind. The same feeling she had before, only ten times stronger. It was ... no it couldn't be her.

"Dawn. I need help."

"Great. Now I hear voices in my head." Dawn sighed. "Like I wasn't freaky enough before. What will be next? A third eye? Gills? "

"Dawn. Can you hear me?" Tara tried the connection once more.

"This is so not happening." Dawn reached the corner of the manor and spotted John walking towards her. She wanted to step back, but it was too late. "Oh, that's what I need right now. To act crazy in front of an audience."

"Dawn. What are you doing?" John observed her useless attempt to hide. He was worried about her. She seemed more and more depressed, spending most time in the library, barely talking to anyone. The whole problem with her new powers was getting to her and John had no idea how he could make it better. She was still a mystery to him. Every time he thought he figured her out she proved him wrong.

"I hallucinate and talk to myself. You?"

"Actually I was looking for you. Buffy wanted to make sure you get some rest before we leave tomorrow." John replied, not sure what to think. "So what did it say?"

"Huh?" It took Dawn a few seconds to realize what he meant."You mean the funny tiny sound in my brain that proves I lost the last piece of my sanity? It asked for help."

"That's not so bad. I mean it didn't tell you to..." John paused. "I don't know ... burn down the morning training area or stop listening to Britney Spears. Though I'm sure many people would agree with the latter. ", John reconsidered the options "Actually most of us would agree with the first as well."

"That's not the point." Dawn fought back the sad memories connected to the words she heard before. "The voice belonged to someone I used to know and for a moment there I believed she's back. The thing is this happened to me before. After Buffy died I imagined one day I'll just open the door to the kitchen and she'll be there preparing breakfast like she used to and then it really happened and I though she was back, but it was just the Buffybot. Somehow this helped me move on. At least for a few weeks."

"I had a similar experience." John recalled one of Jack's missions. "The first time Jack was cloned. SG-1 visited a planet where they found crystals able to imitate anything close to them. One took over Jack's form and later it even changed into his son. The copy seemed so real." John sighed at the memory. "Maybe because I wished it. It's pointless to ask me what would I do to have my son back, but my instinct told me the person standing next to me was only a substitute."

"So it's just my imagination and I should forget?" Dawn asked, still undecided.

"What does your instinct tell you?"

Dawn closed her eyes and this time she focused on the illusion instead of fighting it. She couldn't recognize words anymore, but images of white room with only a basic equipment started flashing in her mind. A lamp, a bed, a mirror with Tara's reflection in it, a white table with a coffee mug.

"We have to hurry and catch up with Willow." Dawn broke into a full speed run towards Buffy's office."It's not a memory. I saw a table in a room that looked like part of a hospital."

"Dawn. That's not exactly the best prove you could come up with." John objected, running behind her, trying to keep up. 

"Tables on Earth usually don't have emblems indicating a Goa'uld production facility on them." Dawn blurted out. She wasn't sure if Tara's images in he mind were real or just an imagination, but it was a safety-belt keeping her from feeling as a burden everyone has to protect. Ever since she got her new powers Buffy and all others started to act like she was fifteen again: 'Dawn you can't do this. Dawn that's too dangerous.' and she had enough of it. If she really had a connection to anything Anubis did with the set, she'd use it against him and if Tara was alive...Dawn's train of thoughts got an abrupt halt command. What would Willow do to keep it that way?

----

Buffy watched John leave to look for Dawn and tried to concentrate on her own work. They needed a plan. A better plan to be more accurate. SGC offered to use a Tok'ra spy on the base who would help them to get inside, but all attempts to contact him were of no effect. He was either dead or Anubis caught him or it was too dangerous for him to send a message. The wrinkles on Buffy's forehead deepened with worries. Too many possibilities definitely didn't make the solution easier to find. Also Willow wasn't the biggest problem she had to solve in the near future. After Giles told her about the prophecy she immediately refused to let a single slayer die. They still had almost two months to find a better way to make her the only slayer over again, but how? Whistler explained the First's army was supposed to be defeated by using the amulet Angel gave her, there was no need to activate new slayers and use the Scythe. Now she had to lie to every one about why exactly Willow left so abruptly to settle the score between her and Anubis, which was beyond torture especially when she talked to Faith. It was strangely ironical that right after Faith and her started to accept and support each other they were torn apart. Buffy realized she won't be able to keep the secret from Faith much longer.

"Something going through the responsible leader head of your's ?" Faith interrupted Buffy's brooding, making her snap out of the slumber mode. "Perhaps why Will took off so fast to kick some Goa'uld ass without asking for an extra pair of football boots?"

"Yeah. What could possibly make her leave so fast." Kennedy snorted, her voice full of sarcasm. She was against keeping the information from other slayers and she used every opportunity to show it. She didn't care if Faith figures it out. Actually she would welcome it.

"I think she should realize what she's doing." Buffy snapped back at Kennedy. She was well aware Kennedy provoked her, but it didn't make her attacks less effective.

"Maybe she thinks it's better that way." Kennedy continued. "Unlike other people she realizes the problem has to be solved."

Faith observed the verbal duel with curiosity. She was sure there was more to it then just simple nervousness and general dislike between the two slayers. It lasted the whole two days and started the evening after Whistler woke up from coma. Only Buffy, Dawn and Giles were allowed to visit him, saying he was too week to have the whole SWC breathing on his neck and demanding answers. Three hours later Kennedy got the privilege as well which Faith found suspicious, considering Kennedy had found out Willow had left only few minutes before.

"Maybe you should go check the weapons Kennedy." Buffy glared at Kennedy in a way that would cause any demon to duck and cover.

"Good idea." Kennedy didn't flinch. "I like weapons. They're so honest in contrast to those who wield them."

Faith watched Kennedy storm out of the room, analyzing what she had just witnessed. It was easy to recognize Kennedy was pissed off, however Buffy's behavior was even more bizarre. She was looking down, staring at her shoes like they were the most interesting object in the galaxy, her face sad and full of guilt. Whatever Kennedy was angry about, it seemed Buffy knew she was right.

"B." Faith closed the door to her office to make sure they won't be disturbed, not sure what she should ask her about. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Buffy lacked the strength to look Faith directly into the eyes. She wanted to tell her the truth, but what would follow? Four hundred slayers with the knowledge they'll die in several weeks. On the other hand perhaps Faith would agree to keep the secret.

"What did Whistler reveal, that made Willow go all revenge gal?" Faith pushed further.

"She believes she can save Kennedy." Buffy replied and started explaining. About the Scythe, the set, the prophecy, Powers That Be and why exactly they sent Earth to this universe. It disturbed Buffy Faith listened to her so calmly, without yelling and cursing. Faith breaking anything within her reach would mean she's angry, but that she can deal. The calm, determined Faith next to her was so creepy it scared her.

"So that's why we're attacking the Goa'uld space station?" Faith asked as soon as Buffy finished. "That's why you wanted so many slayers to participate?"

"What do you mean?"

"How many do you expect to die tomorrow?" Faith raised her voice."Fifty? Hundred? The more the better, right? We're acceptable casualties after all."

"We're researching the prophecy and looking for another way." Buffy defended herself, but the tone of her voice could hardly persuade anyone.

"Why hurry?" Faith continued bitterly. "You're not the one who will turn up her toes in several weeks."

"What exactly do you expect me to say Faith? I'll do anything to save them. I can't promise you more." Buffy replied, an expression of sadness and failure spreading over her features. "You think I don't feel responsible? It was my idea to activate them and now it's all falling apart. Everything we've worked for was of no avail. What are we going to do now?"

Faith couldn't answer Buffy's question. After the battle with the First, she joined the Scoobies, helping to build SWC, because she considered it a way to redemption. As the time passed, somehow redemption became only a word, no more important to her. What she cared about were the new slayers, her students. In the beginning she didn't plan to get involved, but the bond between them soon became much deeper them the typical teacher-student relationship. Once a seventeen year old slayer approached Faith after a skirmish and said that the skills she taught her saved her life and that she wants to be like Faith when she grows up. It stunned Faith how much this appreciation meant for her and that was the moment Faith's opinion changed. This was her reward. The trust of one girl was worth more then Faith's own redemption.

"We will find a solution." Faith declared, her voice forbidding any doubts.

"And what happens if we can't?" Buffy looked at Faith with a lot more confidence then before. She already knew what Faith would answer, but she needed to hear it from her.

"No need to worry about that." Faith shrugged."We won't be here to see it."

Buffy nodded, perfectly understanding what Faith meant. "Third times a charm."

**Part 8 - Renegade**

Willow's ship left the hyperspace and rapidly approached the alien planet. After sweeping out of the atmosphere she had the first chance to observe the surface covered with dozens of volcanos erupting molten lava, the landscape covered in clouds of dust and ash. Anubis called his home Tartarus and Willow could only laugh spitefully at the concept. The Goa'uld obviously had no idea what the real hell looked like, but he would soon find out. The base where she was heading was wedged in one of the dormant volcanos, completely unprotected, which either meant they weren't aware she was coming or they expected her and didn't bother with countermeasures. Willow shrugged off the feeling she headed into a trap and brought her ship close to the stargate, which was mounted to the landing area.

Lindsey carefully observed Willow's ship on a monitor with a disappointed expression. He hoped to have more time to prepare Tara and manipulate her to help Wolfram and Hart against her former girlfriend. He could forget the original plan to persuade Tara she was still on Earth that was destroyed by Willow's magic. Tara wasn't ready and he will have to use a much more direct approach. Lindsey still had doubts. The way Willow dealt with Amy and other witches proved she can't be underestimated and Tara was the only advantage he had.

Willow's suspicion the place was a trap raised to the level of certainty when she teleported inside without detecting any magical barrier. The wide corridors of the station were empty, she didn't meet a single Jaffa on her way to the main hall, where she initially expected to find Anubis. The huge space lacked a living soul - literally, because there was a vampire standing next to Anubis's golden throne. Willow noticed with surprise he was holding the Scythe, which was melted together with three other artifacts and handing it over to her.

"Is this some kind of lame peace offer?" Willow arched her eyebrow, accepting the set, perplexed by the demon's behavior. The vampire touched a sphere lying next to the throne and Lindsey's face appeared after the transmission established.

"I bet you're wondering why we let you get so far and also why we gave you the nice present to play with." Lindsey searched for a sign of fear in Willow's face, but she remained completely calm. "I'm sure you came here to solve this...", he took out a copy of the Pergamon Codex, opening it on the last page. "...and the lands of Earth will perish in great suffering and pain if the balance won't be restored. The hearts of men and women shall explode, their blood reddening rivers and lakes and their children shall drown in a see of tears. The skies will darken, belching flame and acid instead of water, turning human cities into heaps of ash and rotten bones. Once admired heroes, the slayers will be tortured to death by their own kind, grey crows pecking out their eyes and their bodies will be divided into four, vultures feasting on their flesh." Lindsey paused. "Wow. I admire how visual these prophecies are. However I think the author should concentrate more on the plot. For example, there is nothing about who will actually use the set and open the gateway between dimensions."

"Let me guess." Willow's expression turned into a ruthless grin. "You want me to use it? That's the most stupid plan you could ever come up with. You have nothing to exchange."

"I wouldn't count on it." Lindsey stepped back and let a Jaffa bring Tara to the transmitter. The impenetrable confidence in her own invincibility radiating from Willow's face faded away in a single second as she recognized who was the woman on the other side. A vision she saw thousand times before in her dreams, the person she imagined to see next to her every time she looked into a mirror long months after she passed away. This had to be a trick. No power could bring Tara back, Willow tried it herself. Even though Willow was aware Lindsey was just using both of them for his own profit, her logic was quickly hushed by memories filling her mind.

Tara watched Willow with raising fear and doubts. Willow's condition was far worse then she imagined. Ever since she met Willow, Tara was aware of the great potential in the magical department her girlfriend carried. Whatever these people needed her power for, the forces Willow was using at the moment were pure darkness. She couldn't let Willow agree because of her.

"Willow don't!" Tara shouted, throwing herself against the Jaffa guarding her. She managed to grab his zat gun, but when she aimed at her captor, she realized she didn't have a clue how it worked. The soldier didn't give her the time to figure out the function, kicking the weapon out of her hand, pulling the struggling Tara to him and binding her arms behind her back.

The sound of Tara's words made Willow snap out of the lethargy and focus on her plan. She tried to use her magic to locate Lindsey and Tara, then she would destroy the set and save her.

"I hope you don't consider destroying the set." Lindsey remarked like he could read her thoughts. "We used it to bring Tara back and guess what happens if you do."

Lindsey's statement struck home more effectively then he himself probably realized. Till this moment Willow had the chance to save everyone. Now there was Tara on one side and Kennedy together with all other slayers on the other. The choice should be obvious, but it's easier said then done.

"A complicated situation, isn't it?" Lindsey noticed Willow was hesitating. "A lot of factors to consider. So let me make it a little more simple for you."

Willow watched the events that followed in a slow motion, frozen in silence and unable to react though her mind was screaming in sheer horror. Lindsey draw a gun from a holster hidden under his coat, aimed at Tara's back and fired. With dread in her eyes, Willow saw the bullet leave the barrel of his pistol, listening to the bitter sound of gunshot followed by Tara's surprised expression as her body started to fall to the ground, blood soaking through the fabric of her clothes. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but for Willow it seemed like an eternity of torture.

"You know we can use a sarcophagus and heal her." Lindsey reminded her, trying to get her attention and immediately regretting it when she looked at him. The expression on her face was beyond hatred. She walked towards the Scythe like she was in a trance, touching the handle. The floor began to shake as well the whole surface around the complex. The combined energy was channeled to the space between Tartarus and it's sun. Lindsey expected the process to be accompanied by the typical lighting effects that followed opening every dimensional portal, but he couldn't see any. At one moment there was just open space and a second later there was a planet. From the sensor readings the world Willow transferred was Quortoth.

"We need you to open another portal." Lindsey informed her strictly.

Willow stepped back, breathing heavily, her powers drained by the spell. "I need some time to recover my stre..." Willow couldn't finish the sentence, because of a bright white light encompassing her and the set. Before she could react she suddenly found herself on the board of a small Asguard vessel on the planet's orbit, facing the ship's commander.

"I'm Odin of the Asguard." the small grey alien introduced himself, studying her dark appearance with curiosity. Willow didn't look exactly how Thor described her, but her DNA was the same according to the sensors so he accepted the change as a human habit to regularly manipulate their design and continued. "Thor sent me to find you and help you with your task."

"There is a transmission between this planet and a Ha'tak nearby." Willow quickly recovered from the unexpected surprise. "Can you locate it?"

"Yes." Odin did a few peculiar movements with the crystals on his board and a picture of the Goa'uld ship appeared on the screens. "It's hidden behind one of Tartarus's moons, only half million miles away. However that's not our most important goal. We have to leave the orbit and destroy the set before Anubis sends reinforcements. The ship's repairs aren't finished and the weapons are still out of function as well as other crucial systems."

"We're not leaving or destroying the set." Willow stated in a slightly warning tone.

"I have strict orders from our council." Odin replied calmly. "I'm not here to discuss this."

"Neither am I." Willow's fingers sank into the alien's head, absorbing his live energy before he had a chance to defend himself. Once he was dead she threw his body out of the seat, taking his place, activating the engines. "Thanks for the ship." Willow smirked, taking one of the smaller white crystals, trying to figure out how to control the Asguard vessel. She remembered a lot from her first meeting with Thor so it didn't take long to learn the basic functions. She activated the tractor beam, pulling her Pel'tac along and then she set the course to Lindsey's ship.

As soon as the Goa'uld craft spotted the approaching Asguard vessel, it undertook a useless attempt to escape to hyperspace, but it's acceleration was too slow. Once Willow got at a close distance, she let the Pel'tac fly freely to crash into the Ha'tak, which immediately opened fire. The already damaged Asguard shield wasn't strong enough to withstand the massive volley of plasma bolts and the ship rocked with the hits piercing the hull, losing it's systems one by one. Fortunately the Pel'tac reached the target before the complete destruction of Odin's vessel and the following naquadah explosion disabled the Goa'uld shields and weapons, overpowering the generators, giving Willow enough time to locate and transport Tara out of the ship. Forgetting about everything else, Willow ran to the motionless body lying on the cold floor, ready to heal her, but that wasn't necessary. The Asguard technology was obviously configured to heal all transported humans, because the only reminder Tara got shot few minutes before was a red stain on her clothes.

Kneeling next to her, Willow carefully put a piece of clothing under Tara's head, waiting till she would wake up. To hide her real condition, Willow created an illusion charm making her hair look red instead of black, the dark veins disappear from her skin and her eyes green as they used to be. She also removed the stain on Tara's clothes. The moment she was done, Tara raised her eyelids with a sharp intake of breath, her eyes travelling around the corridor before they rested on Willow's face, a soft smile playing on her lips. Because of her slightly blurred vision caused by the previous injury she didn't notice the dead Asguard next to the seat or the window offering a perfect view of Tartarus and it's moons.

"You'll never believe what I dreamt about." Tara chuckled, her expression suddenly changing as her sight improved. She was about to ask Willow what happened when she noticed a grey figure sneaking to the control panel. "Behind you!"

Willow turned around quickly, catching sight of another Asguard attempting to take one of the crystals. Without hesitation, she focused on the stone and an invisible force hurled it towards the alien with the speed of a bullet. The impact pierced his torso and threw him across the corridor right into a sharp corner. A cracking sound could be heard as the alien's weak skeleton shattered, his lifeless figure falling to the floor.

"What's going on Willow? Where are we?" Tara observed the dead Asguard, her face filled with worries. "What's that?"

"I don't know." Willow shrugged, her voice and expression an example of pure innocence, and tenderly stroked Tara's hair, assuring her with a soothing smile Tara remembered so well. "I guess a demon. It was just a demon."

End of Volume two.

Please review. Some feedback would be helpful.


	27. Update

John, thanks for telling me about the mismatch. This is the third time I upload and change the chapters so I hope the new files are really there. There were few problems with the download manager (my account was locked), but the last time I checked the new stuff was correct. 

Thanks for reviewing, but I'm afraid the chapter that follows the story isn't finished yet. I'm working on some earlier chapters concurrently to make them easier to read and will give the story a better continuity (I hope :-). None of the new stuff changes the main plot so you really don't have to read it if you don't want to, but I'll be glad if you will. I've been mostly just adding or deleting few sentences, however there are some bigger changes: 

-There is a short new chapter about Buffy on Tauri during her memory loss called Behind the Lines. 

-The chapter End justifies the means is gone. It was necessary for a subplot about a major battle between slayers and Apophis, which I abandoned so I deleted it, because it was one of the week chapters anyway. 

-The chapter Hide and Seek is about four times longer now. First time I didn't really use the potential of Dawn being alone on an enemy planet. The new text is mostly Dawn's spy stuff about how exactly she tried to find information about Buffy and Bauer (the General working for Kinsey), which was very interesting to write, because Dawn isn't a witch or a slayer so her only weapon is the fact she's smart. I might be adding another chapter about Dawn versus NID so I'd appreciate if you read this and tell me what you think. 

That's it for now. Enjoy the new texts. Byes.


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